Tales of Symphonia: The Remnants of the Desians
by Ravan Pyreloft
Summary: Chapter XXXX: Lloyd makes one more attempt to find a peaceful end to the mad plots of Valemeros...Lloyd may find such comes with a deep and personal price that threatens the resolve of the Eternal Swordsman.
1. Into the world again

The Shadows of a Future

Sheena walked along the stream, as the moon light hit the surface in a glittering light show to display the enchanting power of the crisp night.

A sigh escaped her lips.

It had felt like years had passed since they had been on the journey to collect all the exspheres that still polluted this now combined world. She knew there was a tension that was growing among the people of both worlds, now that peace was reigning with the end of the designs and mana being thick in the world...all the peoples tensions were now fixated on one another over world issues.

She could not help but look over to the camp where Lloyd had set everything up for the night. She knew the issues of the world troubled him. Yet he had the strength to be able to focus on the task that he promised himself and she had to admire that somewhat.

The man was a stubborn idealist, she knew if he got too involved with the issues of the tension among the citizens of Tethe'ella and the citizens of Sylvarant. It seems the world combination would not be as easy as Lloyd and the group had first thought. If he got wrapped up in that, then she was afraid he would not be Lloyd anymore.

He would change as the world would need him to. So he could make sure that there was no more chaos and no more disharmony.

Exspheres. That was the task which they focused on.

She let out a sigh once more, looking to the water with eyes almost completely dominated by the emotion of distress and even sadness.

It was the only thing he focused on and did tirelessly.

She felt the wear coming down on her as she placed a hand gently against her hip and closed her eyes, she accepted all the tasks that had been placed before her yes. But she had to confess she did not think of how much time she would lose to be able to be herself. A selfless sacrifice.

She heard the foot steps behind her as her head turned to face towards the man she knew was coming up behind her. But her head once more turned to face the stream. She did not want him to see her like this, she was tougher then this.

"Sheena?" came the predictable inquiry.

Sheena breathed in deeply as she closed her eyes for a moment and then breathed out as if to regain herself to face the man. Her face was back to being strong and dependent.

"What is it, Lloyd?"

"You cannot sleep can you?" he asked the obvious.

"No." she confessed.

"Why?"

"Lloyd...have you ever thought of the idea of trying to collect every single exspheres in the world? Have you ever thought it was not possible?" she wondered, she felt a honest thought enter her mind. She did not want to sound negative, but this is what happened when she was allowed to think to herself a little too much.

"Wha?" came the reply. "Well...I don't know, Sheena. I mean-" he started.

Sheena became flustered as she realized her statement may knock the young swordsman off his stance and she did not want to be the one to tell him he could not do something. Not her.

"H-hey! I was just kidding!" she said out flustered. "This is where you are supposed to tell me something like 'Of course it is possible, you dork' and then you are supposed to tell me how much we have been through already that this is easy." she stared right at him, her heart hurt each time it beat at the thought of maybe denting his drive.

Lloyd blinked at her and gave her the predictable moment of silence as he tried to figure out quickly how to react before his mouth turned up and a light laughter came out while his hand reached up to rub the back of his head.

"Oh! Yes. I guess I forgot...maybe I am just tired." He confessed embarrassed.

Sheena could not help but feel the fatigue of weeks of travel melt away when he gave her that smile and she had heard his laughter. They had both been so focused on the task that she had not felt a moment more real with Lloyd then this one moment. As long as he gave her that smile and cheer, perhaps she would have the strength to continue this path.

"Well just don't forget." she said, now in a scolding manner as she tapped her foot slightly with both hands on her hips and leaning forward. "You promised yourself that you would do this and I came with you believing that! You better not let me down too." she knew a good scolding would boost his resolve as well, as funny as that sounded to her. But she knew.

"Alright alright." he laughed still, lifting both his hands as if to calm her.

Sheena was surprised how much weight was lifted from her mind from this single moment with Lloyd, if he was not such a strong hearted and head strong idealist, maybe they could take a break from this entire task and just remember one another for a while.

Sheena let out a sigh with a nod "Good." she confirmed.

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked, his laughter slowly dieing down to ask.

"What is it, Lloyd?" she wondered.

"Thank you..." he started.

"Wha-where is this coming from?" she got out in a sudden fluster, his eyes were so significant when he said it, she had to battle the instinct to even blush.

No!

She would not let herself succumb to him like that. Not that easily.

"You came with me. You have stayed with me and fought with me as we collected every exsphere we could. I don't know how far I could go without you." he confessed.

"St-stop that." she sputtered as she turned around, folding her arms over her chest.

Lloyd gave a small smile as he walked towards the purple clad ninja and reached out maybe to place his hands gently on her shoulders. But his hands froze in midair as he stalled for a moment until pulling his hands back and keeping the cheerful smile.

"I'm serious, Sheena. Not everyone would have been able to do this for this long."

Sheena lowered her eyes, the water was her direct vision as she felt the blood surfacing to the skin of her face and she had to stop that. But she also thought of what he was saying deeply. The selfish side of her thought, that even if they did do this task for this long she would not mind, as long as Lloyd would not forget she was there. Such a foolish ninja she was.

"I couldn't let you do this alone, Lloyd."she said in almost a whisper.

A sudden memory flashed through her mind, how when Mithoes tried to claim Lloyd and she remembered how when she threw herself in the way of him and allowed herself to be taken by him. She did not even think about it, she just did not want to lose him and before she knew it she had been taken in his place.

"Sheena?" Lloyd wondered.

Her eyes blinked once as if snapping too and she felt herself grow a little nervous.

"Y-yes?" she stuttered. Dammit, why couldn't she sound more confident?

"You went silent all the sudden. Are you alright?"

"Oh yes." Sheena confessed, letting out a sigh as she looked to the side at the stream. "This isn't where I thought I would be at right now..." she hesitated before closing her eyes. Might as well compromise herself a little more, break her pride a little. Maybe it will pay off. "With you...you know?" she kept her eyes closed.

"Oh! You...wanted to be somewhere else?" he now grew nervous as he took a step back, he felt a strange sensation fill his chest as he felt his mind race.

"Well...Lloyd...you see..." she started.

"I'm sorry Sheena. I guess I never thought about it." he started, Sheena stayed silent for a moment as if she felt a small sting of pain.

Did not think about it? About her? About them?

"I guess I forgot you have a lot of duties you need to do as well, being the Chef of Mizuho and everything that you cannot stay away too long." he regretably looked to the side.

"What? No...No...I..." she stuttered and suddenly her stubborn nature got the better of her as she let out a defeated sigh. "Arg...idiot."

"What? What did I do?" Lloyd said in a worried tone.

Sheena folded her arms over her chest as she felt her brown eyes close once more, a little more tightly this time as she felt a swell of emotions coursing through her at once. There was only so much she could do, Lloyd had to take some steps as well. She would not run all the way to him...could she? She shook her head.

Of course not.

"It's nothing, Lloyd. Let's just get some rest for tomorrow." she said, her tone had returned to a more stern and serious tone that she used to mask her weakness. A weakness she did not like showing, but Lloyd had a way of getting it out of her and making her feel like a...like a silly school girl.

"Sheena..." Lloyd whispered, trying to encourage her to open to him.

She turned on her heel and walked towards the camp. She knew if she stayed and listened to him for too long she would crumble and this was an emotion she had to hold onto for now, it was strong and determined. Something she had come to depend on so much.

The wind felt nice once more as they zipped through the skies in the trusted rheairds that they managed to hold onto. The mana in the world was more then enough to keep it flowing smoothly through the skies as she held onto Lloyd from behind, keeping her cheek against his back.

The replays of last night rang too loudly in her head as she did not even pay attention to what was happening as she remembered his smile and felt him closing in on her. Then he had to go and be all...Lloyd on her. It frustrated her so much sometimes.

But yet at the same time she could not possibly blame him for being himself, after all it was cause of who he is and how he lived his life that made him stand out so much from everyone else she had ever known in her life.

Maybe all the time that had passed by and they had so tirelessly been hunting down Exspheres was catching up to her and she did not like the feeling of having a moment that they actually managed to pull away from the world and claim it as their own moment was ruined by the young mans inability to comprehend that she was obviously hosting a progressing crush on him.

She was in trouble, she had fallen for a wonderful man. But that same man did not exactly knew she existed to him and could exist to him on a deeper and profound level.

She then made herself a promise.

Next time such a moment came up, maybe she would make it more obvious to him. But how? Maybe she could confess to him. But did she really have the strength to spill her feeling to him like that? The though alone made her stomach turn with uneasiness. The man confused her quite a bit with how he was. He treated her so well and so kindly and even in the past had given what she swears could be signals. But then he would go and blow it by...well being himself.

The issue with her coming foreword and spilling all her emotions was hard enough to try and work up, even if she believed she knew the answer. She could get a completely different answer and then she knew that would make her a different woman for the rest of her life. That thought scared her too much. She buried her face in Lloyds back, maybe she could forget it and think of another way to make it just that much more obvious to the young swordsman.

Plus for all she did know, maybe she herself was reading too much into the mans actions as well and maybe she had let her head...no no...her heart get in the way of her head, interfere with what would normally be rational thinking.

She was suddenly jarred from her thoughts as she felt the turbulence rock the rheaird during its dissent. How careless of her to forget these things fly smoothly but sometimes Lloyds had some problems with the landing as she felt her body lifted from the device and actually thrown off.

A scream rang from her lips as she attempted to grab the young swordsman in a tight embrace, but she was lost in such a daze that when her arms tightened, she realized there was nobody there to tighten around and her body fell and in a flash of a second she saw the rheaird for a quick moment and then saw it pass as she fell to its side. This was how her journey was going to end? She could not believe it and yet here it was.

Everything was going so slow, like time decided to slow this moment just for her so she could watch every detail of her fall.

But time seemed to snap back to normally as she felt her fall actually stop with a violent jerk. Accompanied with pressure on her ankle as her weight shifted.

Her weight?

She could feel her weight against her, meaning she was stopped from her fall. Be still her terrified and beating heart as she looked up suddenly and there was Lloyd, grasping onto her ankle like the world depended on him doing so while trying to keep the rheaird steady as he grunted once. He was holding her weight with one arm, and not even allowed to put his body into it as he leaned over and she could tell by how violently the rheaird shook that it was not an easy task.

She could not help but let the sight sink in, Lloyd had once more saved her life as she still felt her heart racing. She could see his lips moving, but she heard nothing from him. But she could tell he was telling her to hold on. He had a locked combination of determination and deep fear.

She looked towards the forested area as she saw the woodlands slowly come closer to her vision and she knew he was landing as soon as possible without placing any risk on her.

The ground continued to near.

"Lloyd! We are close enough! Let me go!" she started to struggle a little, she did not want to worry Lloyd so much and she did not want him to risk hurting him which she knew he would do. He would have the muscles of his shoulders tear from their joints and bone before he would let her go, then she would never be able to live with herself if she caused that.

"What!? No! I won't let you fall!" he yelled back, but his face told another tale of strain that it took to keep her up and keep the rheaird balanced enough for a safe landing.

"Lloyd! Trust me! Please!" she begged.

"This is no time to be strong!"

"Lloyd! I can make it!" 'Maybe.' The ground was still pretty far away.

Lloyd shook his head as he tried to keep a focus, but his worried eyes kept looking down at Sheena as if to make sure she was still there.

"Sheena! I almost lost you once cause I did not come to pull you up! I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. I'll never forgive myself if I lost you again!" he yelled back, his jaw clenching as he focused everything he could to keep her in his fingers grasp. He would need to lose his arm before he let her fall again.

Sheena did not know what to say or do. No matter if she liked it or not, she was going to be rescued from this predicament. But who was she kidding. She wanted to be rescued as she felt her face soften at his determination.

"Lloyd! Pull me up!" she screamed at him.

"I...I can't while trying to land!" he screamed, that statement only seemed to cause his jaw to clench as if he despised saying he could. not

"Lloyd! Please! Just trust me and do it! I know you can, Lloyd." she pleaded with the young swordsman so he would not injury himself. He had to trust what she had in mind.

Lloyd seemed to close his eyes on hearing her statement and felt his fingers tense around her ankle, like she could tell anyway. He was holding onto her pretty tight. With everything he hand he pulled her upwards towards him, but with his body positioning and the balance needed to be maintained was not a lot. He could probably pull her up if she was on the edge of a cliff, but this was different as she breathed out and pushed herself to bend forward and her hands actually managed to grab onto Lloyds forearms, she could swear she heard the man grunt in pain as the weight shifted on his arm.

She could not let his efforts go to waist, she reached up and dug her hand into his shoulder and pulled herself up, she would make it as quick and hopefully as painless as possible as her leg lifted and she managed to climb back onto the seat of the rheaird. Her arms quickly slided around his waist as she held onto him with a renewed energy and she hid her face back into his back like she was ashamed to have put him through that. But she did feel awful.

She hoped Lloyd would forgive her foolishness, she knew he did. But she could not help but make herself uneasy that on some level he may not. God that thought made her stomach twist lightly.

The had finally landed as Sheena sat on the edge of the rheaird and held onto Lloyd, even a little tighter for she actually was afraid in her heart to let him go so he could face her and he could speak.

But perhaps she would be getting worried over nothing. Maybe he will turn to her with concern and care and want to make sure she was alright and maybe even hold her through some deep seated concern he would get at thought of almost losing her.

Then he would scold her. She could not face that fact.

She only bring herself to just holding him to her with eyes shut tight.

She felt his body start to move, he was trying to stand up. But the moment she felt him stand she only held on tighter and closed her eyes. Maybe if he didn't stand for a while he may forget all this and they could just move on. Maybe...just maybe.

"Sheena..." came the whisper like tone.

Here is came and she knew it.


	2. A village in flames

The Shadows of the Future

Chapter 2

Lloyd felt the muscles twitch in his shoulder, the invasion of copper filled his senses as he knew he cut his lip open from biting down on it to try to pull Sheena back up. It was not cause she was heavy or anything, it was just cause of the awkward angle...and a past wound.

The fight with Kratos came at a price to best his own father once and for all. His right shoulder had never been the same when he was forced to block so many blasts from his old mans sword.

Probably did not help that his father managed to strike him with the lightning blade which stunned him for that moment to let Kratos slam the shield into his shoulder. His father did not show mercy, but Lloyd would never have wanted him to.

But he almost paid for it. He almost lost Sheena cause of his previous injury that was taking more then its fair share of time to heal over. Sheena...he almost lost her to a fall he knew even she would not have been able to survive.

A cold shiver went down his spine as he leaned forward on the rheaird while it had landed. Fire was burning within his shoulder as he closed his eyes for a moment as if to push aside the agony.

His body tried to lift as he felt the weight against his back remain, the attempt to lift himself coupled with the unexpected addition to the effort took him by surprise as he got pulled back to the seat of the rheaird with a sudden thump. Sheena was still latched to his back, her head resting against him as he looked over his shoulder.

The pain faded feeling her hold him close. Nothing else mattered for that one moment. How was it she was able to make him feel invincible when he was weak? He let out a breath as he reached up to place his hands on her forearms.

"Sheena." he whispered.

The arms clenched tighter around him as he felt her form press up against him, as if she were still falling and she needed to hold onto him to stop herself...or maybe a child that had just woken from a nightmare. He was surprised he thought up that type of comparison, but it came to his mind as he sighed out softly.

"Sheena...it's alright. We have landed. You can let go." he reassured her. But a twitch flinched in his chest when he said she could let go. That was an interesting new feeling to stab inside his chest. It was almost like it was regret or even possible sorrow.

'Why do I feel this way? I should not feel like this. I saved her.' he ran over his mind.

He felt her arms loosen slightly, like she was giving up in defeat and let herself release the young swordsman as he sighed out once. Maybe he should not have opened his mouth.

He felt the twitch of pain flare up inside his muscles once more as he groaned once and then forced himself to step off the rheaird to step down onto the ground and he rested his right hand quickly on the hilt of his blade. It was the best he could do to look normal without straining his shoulder too much and actually giving it a rest and brace.

Sheena was looking down at the rheaird with her hands in front of her, resting on the seat surface as her eyes looked like they wanted to just close. She evened looked like she was reduced to the sight of a scolded child and he did not even say anything to her. Nor did he even want to scold her, he just felt his heart hold together at seeing her alive.

"Lloyd..." squeaked a soft voice. "I...I'm sorry."

"Sheena." He whispered, then he walked over to her nearly shrunken form. Such a hurtful sight to see her in and she was blaming herself.

"You are such a klutz." he gave a soft, almost playful tone.

Sheena felt her teary eyes open with a sudden shock as she tried to lift her head. But she suddenly felt a warmth surround her form and hold her in a gentle construction as her watered eyes went wide.

"L-Lloyd?" she stuttered, the young swordsman had closed the distance and held her in an embrace as she felt her body freeze, her heart race and her mind swirl in a storm of chaos that struggled to comprehend what was going on.

"I am just so glad you are alright. I almost lost you again, Sheena." he whispered in a honest worried tone as he closed his own eyes. His eyebrows furrowed only at the aspect that he almost failed himself in losing her. "I do not know what I would do if I let you go." he confessed.

He felt the ninja tremble lightly in his arms as she seemed to have air heave in and out of her form, she was battling tears and he knew it just by how her body convulsed against him. He dared to place a hand on the back of her head as he pulled her head to rest on his shoulder.

'This...feeling...' Lloyd thought, it felt different then before when she held onto him from behind. This time it felt more potent, powerful. It probably was also due to the fact his nose was picking up the lavender scent that she always bathed in when the morning came, it was still very fresh in her hair still and it stirred his senses. She trembled lightly in his arms as her arms slipped around his waist.

He could not see her face from how he held her, all he could see was ebony locks of hair that was tied up against the back of her head as she buried her face into his shoulder. Her trembling form from which he could see was a painful sight for him to see as he closed his eyes for a moment as if thinking he could focus his own energy into her and maybe calm her down.

He could swear it was working as he felt her trembles fade away and wash into his body, like he was the water that rippled but never changed with her emotions. Accepting everything she had to offer and still being there. Like a pebble that had been tossed into the water...it would ripple, change and alter for the moment but in the end it would calm and return to normal.

"I mean..." Lloyd started.\

"Just shut up." she whispered as she dug her fingers into his back to pull herself closer to him.

Lloyd opened his eyes, confused why she replied like that. But then figured it would best not to ask such questions just yet. He had a feeling that those times he had been told that there was a time for talking and there was a time where words would not be enough...somehow he felt maybe that was one of those times.

Or maybe he just knew cause Sheena insisted on the silence.

Either way he was not going to question it for once.

He suddenly felt her fingers press against his back, it was an interesting feeling to have her fingers pressing against the muscles of his back like this. It sent a strange energy coursing through his body, something he had not felt before. It was light an arc of lightning decided to travel through the nerves and ignited a different kind of fire that actually sent a shiver coursing through him.

The lavender was making him daze, he felt himself become lost in this moment as he breathed out very softly. She had calmed down, but he almost never noticed it since he seemed to feel a calming peace wash over him with her and when he was at peace he could almost forget about the world. Even if for but a moment...a moment was all he felt himself wishing for.

He felt the warmth and comforts shatter almost instantly as his eyes widened in an instant and the very muscles of his body tense as he grunted out in pain. Sheena's fingers had slide up to his shoulders and the fingers dug into the tender muscles of his long injured shoulder.

"Argh!" Lloyd suddenly jerked from her grasp, much to his displeasure as he held his right shoulder with his left hand, one eye closed in pain as he bite the fresh wound from inside his mouth and felt a fresh wave of coppery taste fill his mouth.

"Lloyd!" Sheena cried out in a startled manner, he noticed the moment he flinched that she had been very quick to remove her arms from him as if she had to let the gentle butterfly go before her gentle touches crushed its powder wings.

"Please. Don't worry about me, Sheena...I am fine...really." Lloyd brunted out. 'Why? Why did that hurt so much?' Lloyd wondered, perhaps it was also due to the fact the adrenaline was wearing off his body and was now allowed to be reminded exactly how sensitive his shoulder is.

"No Lloyd you are not!" Sheena lifted her leg to slide off the rheaird.

Lloyd looked over to her, thinking of the ankle that he had gripped onto and he felt the sting of worry combine with the flaming pain in his shoulder as he released his shoulder to lift a hand towards her direction as if to try to keep her from coming close.

"Sheena...your ankle!" he tried to voice, but it was too late. Her form was already sliding off the rheaird as she seemed to land gracefully on her feet and almost floated over to him.

"I am so sorry Lloyd...if I had not-" she started.

"What are you saying sorry for?" Lloyd confessed, she was standing before him and he wondered for a moment if her ankle had even hurt at all. He could completely forget about his own pain when he worried for her.

It was something he realized he developed over their journey. He did not know how to explain it to anyone...he had enough problems trying to explain it to himself.

""Well...I..." she started.

He watched as she raised a hand to grab gently the opposite arm above her forearm as she looked to the side. He could not help but give a small smile at how she looked, but yet he also could not help but feel a little bad at how guilty she seemed to look.

"You nothing." Lloyd tried to give a smile as Sheena looked to him.

He noticed how her eyes gave off a very enthralling glitter when misted over with tears, it was like the built up water somehow made her brown eyes more endearing and that drew him in. However on his own personal note he knew that no matter how much he seemed to like how her eyes looked when misted over. There would be no way he would want her to cry just so he could see them again.

"You know the first thing that I thought of when I saw you fall off the rheaird, Sheena?" he started, slowly bringing his hand over to his shoulder as he gave it a gentle grasp as if holding it place. He knew it looked like it did not help much, but it did help ease the weight from his knotted muscle inside his shoulder.

"It wasn't how clumsy you were or how inconvenient it was for our journey to save you." Lloyd started, he could swear she just flinched lightly when he mentioned the saving part. It was like she did not like the word or maybe it sparked something in her mind. "It was about how I had almost lost you...again." Lloyd confessed.

Sheena continued to look to the side, but she seemed to close her eyes as if either ignoring or focusing on his words. Lloyd could not tell which one of the two it was. But he had a feeling that she was not ignoring him, that was a good sign. It eased him to believe in the fact that she would be listening to him like she always seemed to.

"You know in journey there were many times that I could have lost you. But each time you managed to survive and stay here with me." he spoke, she opened her eyes and looked over to him for a moment when he said the part about staying with him.

Lloyd was suddenly a little shaken when her eyes met him, he could swear he felt the heat from underneath his red jacket start to boil as the pain seemed to fade instantly, replaced by a sudden building of sweat from underneath the clothes and the sudden need to constrict his voice.

"I guess I...just have to count my blessings and make sure that nothing happens to you." he managed to confess as he felt his senses become suddenly too aware.

He could taste the remains of the copper between his lips, feel every cell in his body shift with a rapidly beating heart that did not help in keeping his body calm to stop heat from rushing through his every limb. He felt like her eyes were exposing him the longer that they stayed on him, and he was not even aware there was anything of himself to expose to her. It was like it was a new discovery for him as well.

Why was she not saying anything? Every second she let him look at her, as her lovely brown eyes gazed on him was a little more weight to add to the growing tension.

'Say something...anything.' Lloyd uttered in his mind.

He tried to scan her face, her reaction to his words but she just stared at him, as if he had said something that was earth shattering. She looked like he had said that the worlds were going to become sundered and separate once more.

Her hand gentle came up to brush the ebony bangs from her right eye as she gazed at him, the only thing he could notice where the fine features of the woman. Her face seemed to not be one that was at a loss for words or even giving a slight hint of a blush, like he had come to expect of her in the past when she always refused to let anyone see such a shade claim the surface of her face. She was calm, peaceful and even staring at him with an intent he didn't know what to call it.

Time had decided to stand still for but a moment.

Her soft pink lips seem to part slowly, the time that had stood still was about to be broken and Lloyd did not know why, but his chest ceased and he found the breath that had stayed in his lungs become lead as it sank down into the pits of his stomach.

A first time he ever felt this way.

Words were just about to come out of those lips and he felt his stomach lurch forward as his mind stilled, he knew in that instant he wanted to hear what she had to say.

The moment snapped and shattered in a single second as an explosion went off in the distance and Lloyd tensed his fingers around his shoulder once more as his head turned to look in the direction. Suddenly he realized he was in pain again as thick black smoke floated into the air.

"What?" he exclaimed as he turned completely.

"Th-that came from the direction of..." Sheena started behind him, her voice broke a little before she could complete the sentence.

"Luin." Lloyd completed

The man walked along the havoc and destruction as the buildings crumbled around him. His eyes casually looked from one building to the other as he rested a sword on his shoulder.

The devastation did not seem to phase him as the screamed lifted into the air and all were that of agony as the smoldering houses claimed the lives of innocents and condemned them to feel the fires eat away at their bodies before they could take no more and mercy would be granted as the life faded from their bodies.

Two figures walked up to the man as they both saluted him and stood at attention.

His eyes cast on his henchmen, one proving to be a male with a wide bladed but shorter style of sword as the other exposed herself as a female with the uniform she wore that accented the body that she had been blessed with as she rested the golden staff against her shoulder.

"Orders, Sir." came the rough male tone as he rested the tip of the wide sword against the ground.

"Kill them all...leave one survivor." the guy remarked as he gave a smirk.

"I'll bring along a nice little girl." the female got out in a sultry manner as if the fires that claimed the town were to her pleasing.

The man waved them off as he turned his back to the two and they both ran off to complete the task that they had been given.

"Oh! And do silence that mindless screaming..." he gave one final order, looking over his shoulder as he barked the order.

"Sir!" they both replied.

"I cannot enjoy a peaceful thought with all this racket." he chuckled as he walked down the pathway and looked out towards the world. His eyes narrowed for a moment as he seemed to scan the horizon and then even looked skyward for a moment as his purple eyes gave a faint glow.

"Mr. Irving..." he whispered with smirking lips as he raised a hand to the sky as if to try to touch the clouds themselves. "Always been one step behind of catching you...maybe you will be drawn to my smoke signal. This is all for you..."

The man gave a sudden sickly grin as he turned around to walk towards the devastation once more.

To bath in the fires of his accomplishment.

"My Lord." came the sultry greeting as the man looked to the side.

"Ah...an important key to the doorway that is my plan." he whispered barely loud enough for the woman to hear as she advanced to close the distance.

The woman gave a sudden hiss as she tossed the weeping little girl to the ground and the woman jammed the staff between the shoulders of the child to keep her to the ground at the feet of her lord as she looked down at the little girl with utter disgust.

"Cut the whining and be grateful to our merciful lord. He has decided that you are to be spared." she hissed, but then her smile came back when she lifted her head towards the man. "All yours, My Lord."

"Oh ho ho, you have done very well...Yes, this one will do very nicely." He said as he knelled before the little girl, the robe he wore spread out as he knelled.

The little girl weeped into her hands as she slowly looked up to the man with sore, smoke irritated eyes with nothing short of pleading fear.

The man had shoulder blade length rich purple hair that almost bordered on black as his eyes stared right into hers, dressed as a noble of the people she knew by now cause of the exploring types that had come by her place. This man had every signal of being from Tethe'alla.

His gloved hands came up to brush the child's chin gently as he gave her comforting or perhaps a demented smile, being the killer was smiling down at the victim of his slaughter. His other hand reached into his robe as he seemed to pull out some form of a symbol that looked to be made of marble as he slide his other hands fingers underneath the little girls chin to cup it and keep it in place as he gently placed the marble against the weeping girls forehead.

The woman only pressed the staff against her back to keep her in place as she gave a little hiss as if displeased at the sight of her lord actually bringing himself to touch the little cretin.

He pushed the marble harder against her forehead until the little girl gave a squeak of pain and the Marble seemed to give a faint glow before it seemed to pass through her skin and sink into the little girls mind and suddenly...the weeping stopped.

The girl fell to the ground unconscious as her breathing instantly shallowed.

The man leaned forward, actually going on both his knees as he leaned in close to the girls ear to whisper softly as if he were afraid to wake her.

"I do not exist...we were not here." he whispered and then grinned as he looked up to his female minion as she let a grin curl along her lips. "Lloyd Irving slaughtered this place. They all slaughtered this place..." he nodded to the woman as she knelled besides the little girl and grabbed her hand, like she somehow knew what he was implying.

She placed a golden crest on the little girls hand as the man pulled out an exsphere and it the orb slide along his fingers before he gently placed it against the little girls wrist and the orb seemed to slither right into place on the back of her hand as he gently stroked the little girls head.

"When you all refused to surrender the prisoners of the old Asgard Ranch. Refused to surrender your family, friends and loved ones. Cause they wanted to take their exspheres." he grinned as he gave the little girls head a gentle pat and slowly stood to his feet.

"What shall we do with her, My Lord?" she asked.

"Hm, dump her in the river down by the shore...make it shallow so she will survive. This will be our little tool from now on." he waved his hand dismissively.

"What did you do, My Lord?" she wondered.

"In this little girls mind...we were never here. Lloyd Irving was."

The woman gave a nod as she picked the little girl up and slung her over her shoulder as she started to walk off. Her male counter part was still busy with his task. Granting his master a moment of peace by slaughtering the rest of the screams of agony.

"Today...is going to be a good day."

He started his exit out of Luin.


	3. Horrors of a massacre

Chapter 3

Sheena felt her heart trying to leap out, maybe even explode in her chest as she stared at him while he confessed something like that. She honestly believed that this would be the best time she would get to be able to let her heart sing what she had trapped deep inside for too long.

The emotions bit at the chains she placed around her heart like rapid dogs that ached to get free and run loose. Her lip quivered slightly as she tried to formulate the words to say to him. Too long she had pictured a moment where she would be able to tell him, now the words had become swallowed in the moment as her eyes stared deep into his.

'Say something, Sheena.' she willed herself as she felt a low confident growl rise up in her chest and try to march towards the exit of her lips for hopes by the sound got there that she would have something to say to the swordsman.

But to her dismay, the growl died and with it all her confidence seemed to be shot. She was hopeless when it came to this. Somehow she envisioned this moment being a lot more magical then what it was and he would just take her in his arms, confess how he needed her and then claim her lips in the fires of passion, emotion and want...of need.

But she had to deal with this moment, he had gone his part of the way and now she needed to live up to her dreams and come the other part.

But why? Why did it have to be so hard? She felt like such a coward.

She swore if her muscles did not tense so much underneath the purple garbs of her ninja tunic, she would feel her muscles turn to jelly and then she would be helpless. Out of the two she was glad to settle for the stronger image of them both and just become tense.

Her worry for Lloyd's shoulder still flushed in her mind, but had to be honest with herself and confess that what he had just said to her dominated her mind. How was he always like this to her?

He could say some of the most meaningful and heartfelt expressions without so much as blinking and mean every single word of them when the time came down for him to speak his mind and heart and yet whenever the aspect of something much deeper then friendship came into the board he was either insanely clumsy with his words, even careless or he was complete dense and blind to the meanings of which was brought to him.

He could hear the cries of the people, hear the weepings of the ones that have been brought down and even sense the pain of others families and yet he was blind to her cries out to him and her need to reach out to him and feel him.

But of course she was new at this too, being traded off like a form of currency to the Pope and used in experiments didn't exactly boost her ability to formulate any love affairs or even ties to anyone. The closest thing she had was a date with the stupid chosen, Zelos and it was thanks to him that she figured she would never involve herself with anyone again.

This this brown haired, red clothed idealist man comes into her life, like a storm and devastates everything she was brought up to be and destroyed her resolve not to get involved with anyone again. But the part that amazed her, is after he came into her life to destroy everything. It was like the city she had built up around her that symbolized her life and place in this world was tossed aside to reveal a wondrous temple, untouched by the storm that allowed Sheena to just be...Sheena.

'Arg, damnnit I am just going to force myself to say it.' she mustered in her mind...a mind in serious conflict over the situation.

Now or never.

She managed to squeak out the beginning of a word for the waiting swordsman, she saw how the silence was tormenting the man and she did not even mean to. She just had too much she had to battle back...but she also had a confidence that Lloyd could be the one to restore her faith completely. He had been doing that in the short time they had known each other.

To go from a lifetime of being brought up in a certain way, only to have a single young man come in and change everything completely, had to mean something. It had to mean he was definitely the one for her in this world.

Her heart couldn't lie.

The sudden explosion from behind rocked her emotions as she felt them shatter in the instant the dark clouds quickly swallowed up the once blue skies as her eyes went from Lloyd to the skies.

Worry and even a touch of fear claimed her heart as she felt everything pushed the side, as much as she didn't want to push them to the side. There was no way she or Lloyd would be able to ignore that as she stepped back for a moment.

"What?" she heard the young man exclaim.

"Th-that came from the direction of..." she knew instantly what direction that was and she was flushed back to the moment that she protected the village until her body couldn't hold out any longer and she was brought down by her wounds and exhaustion.

"Luin." Lloyd completed for her.

"Lloyd, we have to go there!" Sheena exclaimed, looking back down to the man. She knew she sounded a little more desperate then she wanted to. But she was already emotional as it was and hard thing she disliked about emotions is that when the gates are pushed wide open...it takes a good amount of force to get them to close again.

"Yeah." he stated calmly.

She knew he was anything but calm, he was solemn and stricken. He always seemed to enter this mode when innocents were involved and she knew that he was going to be seething underneath if anything was happening to the people.

Her heart thumped once, painfully. She knew that feeling...the people were already going to be dead by the time they could get there.

But she had to try.

_____

They raced through the skies as their rheaird neared Luin, the clouds blocked the vision they had of the village. Maybe Lloyd was doing it purposely as if to shelter her from the sight she already knew she would see.

She placed her head gently against the young mans back. She felt selfish for needing this moment currently. But for what she was trying to prepare herself for she would need strength and she held onto Lloyd as they flew through the air to grant her the strength to face what was ahead.

Pathetic.

How did she became so much like a lost puppy with the young man?

She rubbed her head against his back as she shook those thoughts out, it was only cause he was the single most impacting person in her life and fought her, even literally fighting her to prove that she was a good person on the inside and he saw through her like glass.

Yet he could not see through her to see what she was feeling for him. It was so frustrating at times to have a man who could see into your soul but yet not see into your heart deep enough to find the feelings that stayed secure, a fiery passion about ready to explode if there was no release.

She kept her eyes closed as she sighed and felt her jaw tense, she had held him long enough to find the strength she needed for Luin and what she knew she would have to come to see.

The rheaird started its descent downwards as Sheena could feel Lloyd's body tense, it was sorrow and even anger that she felt deep within him and that along was enough to tell her that what she was going to see could wait until they landed.

She asked and she was granted that as the rheaird landed carefully and Sheena let go the moment the rheaird had become stable as she pulled her knees up and then bounced off the back to land on the ground in a kneel in front of the flying machine. Her eyes stayed on the ground as she felt a sick disgust fill her stomach.

'This...this smell...' she said in her mind as the sickening smell of burning flesh mixed with charred wood and other materials. But when a person smells the burning of actual flesh, they never forget it...no matter how hard she knew she would try.

"Sheena." Lloyd said, he sounded worried.

"It's okay Lloyd." she said calmly as she slowly stood to her feet, the act of standing seemed to look otherworldly graceful with how she managed to come to attention.

But nothing could have prepared her for this as she looked forward and her eyes widened as a hand slowly came up to cover her mouth and she could do nothing but stare completely mortified at the sight that had beheld her.

A sight only suiting for the Netherworld.

Half of a dozen villagers were impaled right down the middle of their bodies so their heads were stuck to look up at the skies, a display of the carnage that had happened here and a warning to the world in some twisted and sick sense. The bodies would never be granted peace as they were set up like a display and not only did the sick mind that thought up to do such a stomach twisting act, but the bodies were still on fire so the world could see the impaled burning corpses of the people of Luin.

Sheena felt something twist too much in her stomach as the scent continued to blanket the air and claim her senses as she forced herself to turn and cringe. She knew she would never be able to forget that sight for as long as she lived as she forced her eyes shut. An uncontrollable shiver started to claim her body as she let the sight makes its imprint on her memory, like a searing brand.

Lloyd walked over as he placed an arm around her, she did not lean against him like she thought she would. Instead the only thing she could think of was at least letting the people rest instead of having their souls become twisted and angry at the disrespectful ritual their mortal bodies were forced to partake in.

Sheena gently placed a hand on Lloyd's as she looked at him, stern and serious as he looked at her without phasing an inch as she breathed out once.

"Cut them down."

Lloyd nodded as he walked towards the display, Sheena was forced to keep her back to the smoldering human body gateway in front of the bridge as she heard the young man draw his swords and with a few swipes of his blades did she hear the shattering of steel against wood as the bodies hit the ground with a sickening thud that was composed of a mix between a mush slosh and a crispy crackle of burnt flesh hitting ground.

Sheena flinched.

"It's done." Lloyd said solemnly.

Sheena turned around as she nodded and then pulled out a blue seal, while closing her eyes as mana started to collect around her feet and she felt the loose fabrics of her purple ninja tunic start to lift as she concentrated. The only thing she had going through her head was to stop the flames from claiming anymore of the village, even though she knew full well she was too late.

"I call upon the Maiden of the mist, come to my aid and quell the fires of the village. Undine I summon you!" Sheena placed the seal forward as it started to spin in circles before she placed her fingertips towards the seal and stilled it's spinning movements that caused the seal to became engulfed in light.

The seal started to shimmer before the symbols rattled inside the seal and seemed to bust out of the paper itself as the seal shattered into fine glittering light as they swirled upwards and gathered once more to formulate the figure of the Maiden of the Mist herself.

Sheena opened her eyes and looked up, she could not help but feel some sting of hope that the Maiden of the Mist would still answer her call as she gave a small, weak smile. She cast her brown eyes ahead of her, looking into the blue orbs of the water beauty herself.

"Please, Undine. Hear my words and soak the village in your water." Sheena said as she pointed towards the village that raged in the embers of malice and destruction.

"As you wish." the maiden replied.

Sheena could not help but feel some sense of fulfillment enter her heart as the maiden replied to her call and she watched as Undine floated swifted through the air, the winds and movements catching the womans fine water sprinkled dress.

She felt Lloyd walk close to her as he gently placed a hand against her shoulder and she could not help but glance over to him and give him a look of gratefulness. She was glad that he was still there with her during this time. She did not know if she could tolerate seeing the destruction of Luin one more time.

She moved her brown eyes once more to Undine.

She watched as the Maiden made the simple movements of gliding through the air look more graceful then any dance that she had ever seen as the womans dress seemed to turn into solid water and it became an endless spout of downpour as the flames crackled, sizzled and smoldered underneath the water that was cast on them.

'Thank you, Undine.' Sheena said to herself in her mind.

Her eyes slowly looked over to Lloyd as she felt his hand still gently on her shoulder, but his eyes were cast forward with an intense, almost glaring stare as the fires were put to rest.

'Thank you, Lloyd.' she said before her eyes looked down to the ground.

_____

"Sir!" The man called out as he ran towards the one he revered as commander.

The man turned with an almost too graceful sway of his mid back length purple hair, a narrow to his eyes for being disrupted before he looked to where the man was pointing.

Something skyward?

He looked up before he felt the sprinkling rain of Undine, and watched as the young maiden floated over them as she continued to cause a shower to the village, a shower suited to a heavy rain as this seemed to calm the man for a moment before he let the rain soak him a little further and he dawned on a look of true annoyance.

The fires around them crawled back into hiding, trying to retreat into the dry households where they can continue to burn, but nothing was safe from the water elemental as they retreated only to be snuffed out by the blessed droplets of the woman.

"They are here." the man said with an annoyance.

"My Lord, what do we do?" the woman asked, making her walk back from between the houses as she raised a hand to push back the slick hair that Undine had caused.

"It won't be long now." He confirmed as the smoldering smoke was even killed off by the downpour caused by the woman who made another floating pass by.

"Then order us, Sir and we shall carry it out." he said, his hand gripping the wide edge sword a little tighter as he gritted his teeth.

"Please do, your wish is our command, My Lord." she added in almost a sultry whisper as she let the staff rest on her shoulder and she leaned on one foot slightly.

"Find Lloyd and bring him to me." said their Lord and Commander as he reached back and grabbed some of his purple hair and gave it a light whip to free it from the weight of the water.

"And if he resists, Sir?"

"I do not care, bring him to me." the man said as he turned around with a light growl. How he hated it to have one of his favorite attires soaked right through. He turned to look over his shoulder a moment with slight frown. "I do not care if you have to bring him to me on the verge of dieing. Just make sure he is conscious when he meets me." he smirked.

____

Undine floated back over and stood before Sheena as the elemental placed her small lithe like hands over her lap and gave a ladylike bow of her head.

"It is done, Summoner Sheena." Undine reported softly.

"Did you see anyone alive" Sheena said, her voice had to be strong. She always thought that her summoned spirits could not ever see any moment of weakness in her, she did not want them to lose their faith and feel like she may yet end up like Mithos or maybe even worse...and not be able to live up to what the young hero was able to do.

"I did, but they did not appear to be victims. They appeared to be untouched from the flames and armed for battle." the maiden reported as her head rose and she looked towards the two.

Sheena felt an inner fire start to build up in her own body at the thought that she might be able to catch the ones who had done this to the village as she felt her hands ball up into fists. Emotion was riding her as always and this one was anger and revenge. To be the justice that the now silenced people of Luin deserved as she felt her muscles even shake under the tension.

"Thank you, Undine. You may go." Sheena said through bared teeth.

"As you wish." Undine said and did one last bow of her head before the maiden seemed to turn into pure water and slowly soak into the ground.

"Sheena...We sh-" Lloyd started.

Sheena heard him say something, but she felt nothing but emotion ride her mind as she leaned forward while placing a foot ahead of her and in one leap she closed the distance between herself and the bridge as she quickly ran across the surface, her own swift grace taking over.

"Sheena!"

She heard him yell, but she could not answer his call this time.

She found that she did not have to run far as two figures stood before her, two figures she could recognize to be honest and seeing them again only fueled her rage and that did not allow her any time to be shocked at what she saw as she pulled out a seal and looked towards her sworn enemy.

"You...how could you do this to an entire village!" Sheena screamed at them.

"You are not Lloyd." The male stated as he raised a sword.

"My Lord holds no interest in you, woman. Begone." the female stated as she slammed the butt of her staff into the ground, her tone was cold and under normal circumstances might have even knocked Sheena off guard, but all she heard were the voices of her enemies.

"I won't ever forgive you! Ever!" Sheena fumed.

"Oh my, now we will never sleep well at night will we, Cecil?" The woman mocked as she placed her fingers lightly over her lips and gave a light laughter. It seemed the woman before her had an on and off switch with her emotions.

"If she is that intent on opposing us, Monique, then lets stick her on a pike as well and let Lloyd be greeted by another corpse!" the man snarled as he lifted the sword, it was still soaked in fresh blood. "Besides, my sword could use another drink." he completed as he slowly trailed his tongue along the surface of his blade to lap up a taste of the blood of the innocence.

"You..." Sheena said in a husky voice, one only baring malice.

She felt her instincts take over as she suddenly darted towards her enemies and let out a light growl before leaping forward and landing on both her hands, letting her feet kick outwards like a helicopter as she felt her foot hit the flat of the mans blade and then her other foot hit something less solid, it was a figure as she spin once more to regain her balance from the two hits and land forward as she saw the man become unbalanced. Time seemed to slow in this instant as she looked down at the man before placing both her hands on the mans shoulders and leaping over him in a windmill flip over his hand and landing to a kneel, adding to her fluid motions as she kicked backwards to catch the back of the mans knee and used her other leg still on the ground to push forward and leap towards the woman holding the staff.

Sheena knew her movements were too fast for them both to register at the time and she took full advantage of that as the distance was quickly closed between her new target, she had closed the distances even before the male was allowed to hit the ground and Sheena pushed her hand forward that had a seal as it was placed against the womans chest before she could bring up the staff to try to hit her hand away. But it was just that quickly and Sheena was allowed to withdraw her hand and then leap upwards to place both her feet on the womans staff to kick off the surface and fling herself backwards as Sheena did one spin and landed right on the mans chest as he heard him give a gasp and even grunt outwards, she had hoped that his ribs broke under her sudden crash onto his ribcage. Sheena then preformed quick and fluid hand movements before closing her eyes for a moment and the seal gave off a glow.

"Wh-what is this?" Monique gasped as she tried to reach up, as if trying to take the seal off.

The seal gave off a yellow glow before exploding into a surge of electrical energy and the womans tense scream was the only thing left to fill the air.

Sheenas eyes opened as she pulled out another seal, the woman leaned against her staff but she knew she was far from done as Sheena lifted her next seal as if showing her that she was ready for anything that this mage could do.

"Sheena!" Lloyd called from behind her and she even heard the sound of metal against metal, the sound that Lloyd's swords made when he drew them.

"Don't mind me! I got these two. They have a leader. You have to find their leader Lloyd." Sheena called out, not taking her eyes off the woman.

"But-" she could hear the uneasiness in the voice in the young swordsman at leaving her behind.

"We don't have time, Lloyd!" she found herself screaming.

"Um...Okay...be careful Sheena!" Lloyd yelled as she did not even watch the man run off, her focus was on the woman.

"Hold it!" Monique called out as her weight turned to the side as if to intercept the man.

Sheena narrowed her eyes and threw the seal forward as it zinged through the air and floated right in front of the woman and Sheena once more followed it with fluid hand movements as the seal seemed to multiply into at least a dozen seals, making a wall as the woman stopped and turned towards Sheena.

"Your fight is with me." Sheena growled.

She suddenly heard the shifting of weight under her as Sheena looked down for a moment, how careless to forget about who she was standing on as the man grabbed her ankle and through some surprising and unknown strength he managed to stand even with her weight on him as well as the fact of the man being in a position of disadvantage as the man let out a roar and stood up with Sheenas ankle in his grip and he started to swing her around, spinning his own body.

Sheena could only feel her world become consumed in surprise and the disorienting whirlwind the man caused as he spun her around, she knew it was a good tactic, it let him build up speed and power for when he actually threw her and it disoriented her focus and visual reliably of being able to counter the throw.

Before she even knew it, she felt the spinning pressure relieved and the sensation of herself hurling through the air was next to claim her, she could only react off instinct now as she managed to twist into the air around to push her feet forward, landing head and shoulders first was what she needed the least as she felt the sudden pressure against her feet and instantly let her knees buckle so she could land against the surface in a crouch as the impact, although not completely negated was absorbed as Sheena landed against the brunt house with a thump.

Reaching up she grabbed the edge of the roof and pulled herself up in a flip to land on her feet, she needed some seconds to recuperate the dizzy swirling inside her mind as she looked down at the man, he stared up at her completely and he did not look pleased.

Sheena pulled out another seal and aimed it for the man before she found herself surrounded by orbs of light and her eyes went wide as she tried to determine what was happening...the woman. She was a mage.

Sheena growled lightly under her breath and took to the air once more as the orbs shoot forward when they formulated and were all aimed towards her, the first barrage missing her as Sheena became airborne, but the orbs continued to follow.

She felt her body suddenly pummeled by these orbs as they exploded into bursts of light, not enough of an explosion to send the ninja flying, but these sudden impacts proved to be more painful then they looked as Sheena felt the burning sensation course through her body. Like the pain was using her veins as modes of transport.

Sheena felt herself pummeled but another barrage before starting her fall towards the ground, sh was helpless now and could do nothing while airborne to stop her point of impact. Sheena looked down to see where she would be landing, the man had run to that location.

Sheena watched as the man raised his sword, looking to impale the ninja on his blade and under any normal circumstance she knew any other warrior might be finished here. But not her. She was not going to allow herself to be killed here as she managed to regain enough of her focus to place a hand forward, the blade had a 30 degree edge to its tip, her only hope would be that flat surface offered.

She managed to land her entire weight on the mans sword edge, her hand keeping her balanced in the air and only her palm touching the mans blade as she breathed out softly, she had managed to do it to spare her own life, but she could not count on the mans surprise to last long as she pushed her feet to the side from her balancing act and landed behind the man, while also managing to use her free hand to smack the mans shoulder before he used her kneeling position to leap forward once more and the seal gave a glow before exploding into a sudden burst of fire.

The man grunted and was flung into the air to crash at the feet of the female who was called Monique.

Sheena landed a distance away and turned to face her enemies, drawing one more seal.

The womans lips curled in a snarl as she turned her head downwards to the man that was flung at her feet.

"Get up!" she yelled as she slammed her staff into the mans body and he gave a grunt and slowly shifted to his feet.

Sheena felt her mind whirl and haze as she breathed out, she knew she needed to breath or she would become her own worst enemy as she allowed them both a break and allow her to get the man up, it would give Sheena a second wind and that would be all she would need.

Sheena looked to her hand, blood trickled down her palm, the same hand she used to balance herself on the blade, it seemed its edge cut through the fabric she always had over the palm of her hand and sliced through skin, judging from the blood the cut looked a little deep, but not life threatening.

Her chest heaved in and out as she realized she spent more energy then even she realized with her seals and her movements.

"I will enjoy...gutting you." The man grunted as he stood to his feet and turned to face the ninja.

"Then do it!" Monique hissed sharply.

The man nodded to himself and to Monique as he charged towards Sheena letting a battle cry ring through the air.

No rest for the weary, Sheena grimly noted to herself as she gave a small smile of self reassurance then anything as she ran forward once more to confront the man.

The woman raised her staff as she seemed to murmur a few incantations.

The man suddenly became surrounded in a magic barrier. Sheena knew this technique, it had saved her life so many times during her journeys. It looked exactly like what Raine used to decrease the amount of damage that the body would take.

Oh great.

Now this battle was going to get serious.


	4. Yogsorrow, Valemeros Yogsorrow

Chapter 4

Lloyd felt his heart jump as Sheena jumped forward and was already gaining impressive distance away from him as he took to his feet and raced after her. Sheena had to stay, he could not protect her if she ran off like that.

Desperation to catch up clung to him.

"Sheena! Wait!" Lloyd called after her, but he figured she would not have heard him.

Leaning forward, Lloyd focused all his effort into closing the distance and trying to catch up to the graceful ninja. But even he knew that his odds of actually catching her were a little more slim then he would like.

The sound of thundering lightning blasted off in the distance, he could not see figures behind the smoldering rising smoke that was still lingering in the air from freshly dowsed flames.

'Something is already happening.' Lloyd thought as his eyes narrowed, gripping both hilts of the swords at his side as he ran through the choking smoke.

Lloyd could not help but wonder as he let out a light cough on how Sheena managed to run through the smoke and yet not be affected by its choking ability as he instinctively covered his gloved hand over his mouth and even his nose.

The sickening smell of burning flesh was enough to twist his stomach.

Lloyd could not help but feel a little disheartened to the fact that he knew by now in his life what the smell of burning flesh was. It was not something he had ever wanted to experience and yet he had experienced enough in his life to know what it smelt like and know that he presumed correctly so long ago in thinking he never wished to know what it smelt like.

Lloyd ran through the smoke, waving his free hand as he burst through into an actual clearing, only see Sheena standing there as he felt a new energy burst into his legs and he rushed forward. Pulling his hand from his mouth as he grabbed both hilts of his swords and was ready to draw them without a second thought.

"Sheena!" Lloyd yelled as he pulled free both his steel long swords.

Lloyd had retired the two treasured swords he used in the final battles that were given to him by his father and dwarven father. Vowing to only bring them out again if the world once more required Lloyd to take up the mantle that he had long ago abandoned for this personal exsphere quest.

He was glad to see Sheena up and unharmed, at least from the backside he had seen of her. His eyes looked instantly to the one she stood on and then to the one facing her, the woman seemed to be recovering from one of Sheenas attacks.

'Wh-what? What are they doing here?' Lloyd thought for a moment. But before he continues to ponder that thought, Sheenas voice snapped him to.

"Don't mind me! I got these two. They have a leader. You have to find their leader Lloyd." her voice sounded stern, in control and even demanding.

Lloyd felt a step falter when she yelled at him as he hesitated for a moment and could only bring himself to say the one thing that came to his mind.

"But-" he managed to stamper before he heard her retaliation.

"We don't have time, Lloyd!" she almost snapped it at him, at least that is how he had seen it as. But she seemed to be more focused then he had seen her in a long while.

He could not blame her, she had to witness the fall of Luin for the second time now and it was probably tearing her up inside a little bit that all she saw was getting even with this two. They had a leader, Lloyd would not be doing her any favors by staying by her side right now. He would be doing her a favor by catching this twisted bastard and killing him before he could spread to another region and that he knew would calm Sheenas anger.

He nodded once to himself and turned on his foot, he knew what he had to do.

"Um...Okay...Be careful Sheena." Lloyd said, he tried to sound firm and control, confident as he learned from Kratos that there would be times he would need to be the strength of his friends and companions by being a leader.

With a slight degree turn, Lloyd darted towards the middle of the village, he had a sneaking and almost inviting feeling that the one they were seeking would be there.

"Hold it!" the sharp but strangely alluring voice shouted.

Lloyd felt one of his feet start to dig into the fire dried soil, as if preparing to stop as he twisted his body to face the confronting yell.

His vision was obstructed by a wall of seals, Sheenas doing.

"Your fight is with me."

Lloyd looked over his shoulder for a final glance at Sheena as he gave her a small nod he knew she would not see as he turned once more and continued towards the middle of the village.

Lloyd dashed down the trail, the smoke was picking up again as smoldering remains as he felt the sting towards his brown eyes and the dry smoke start to claim the surface of his body and skin, not to mention it made his hair feel gritty with the short amount of time he was running through its smoke curtain towards the middle.

A flute?

A flute was playing in the distance, it was a tune he had never heard before as it seemed to echo and even bounce off the surfaces of the village in ruin. Lloyd had never heard such a tune before, it reminded him for some reason of Mithos and how he used to play music.

Lloyd managed to run out of the thick smoke as he coughed light and blinked his eyes free from the dry itch so his sight could see where the sound was coming from.

Lloyd was in the center of Luin, a man sat at the fountain with his eyes closed as he played from the flute a musical, almost calming tone. A gentle wind seemed to resonate around the man and chase any smoke clouds away as his mid back length purple hair lightly floated in the air behind him. His left leg crossed over the right as he seemed to breath in lightly before lowering the flute and placing it gently on his lap and looking down for a moment. His eyes seemed to open as his head rose to meet with Lloyds intent gaze.

"Mr. Irving...how generous of you to join me on this momentous occasion." he said in a voice that was almost too calm, holding a smooth sound tone that was a little deep but not the extent that Lloyd could compare to Kratos.

"You..." Lloyd said with disdain, he did not know who the man was. But he knew to trust his instincts and this time they told him to despise the man.

"If you must address me...then let us exchange the pleasantry." the man seemed to tuck his flute into his noble like robes as he placed a hand forward and actually gave a more refined bow. But his eyes did not leave the Lloyd.

"Valemeros Yogsorrow." he grinned suddenly at his own introduction.

'He is hiding something. He would not be here alone if he did not know how to fight.' Lloyd thought to himself as his eyes scanned the man, looking for what type of fighter he was.

"I don't care who you are." Lloyd actually felt himself speak through clenched jaws and tight teeth. "You slaughtered a whole village. Why?" he demanded.

"Why?" the man tilted his head curiously, as if Lloyd should have known. "Why this was all..." he started as he flared out his arms and gave a grin before pointing to Lloyd "For you..."

"Wh-what?" Lloyd could not help but ask, both his hands were on the hilts of his swords that he had put away to be able to run faster without their hindrance.

"I figured this would be the best way to get your attention." the man looked around, his features were tanned when they were hit by the sunbeams. "I am glad it worked."

"You...you sick bastard." Lloyd uttered out, the man was crazy. Not off the walls flipping crazy, but the plotting and calm kind of crazy.

'Like Mithos was.' Lloyd thought to himself for a moment.

"Sick? Bastard?" he gestured to himself "Me?" he added to his line up of self questions before starting out in a sudden amused laughter.

"What the hell is so funny?" Lloyd almost growled now.

He could not help it, when he saw people like him who slaughtered the innocence and relished in the misery that he placed on others...it drove a nail in Lloyds self control and he would always find himself giving in to his emotions.

"Hardy. Who is the sick bastard here? The one who slaughtered the people? Or the one of which the person slaughtered them for?" the man stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"They are nothing the same." Lloyd added.

"Oh ho, perhaps not. But they are both equally as guilty." he let a sinister smirk crawl across his face as he stared over to Lloyd.

"You lie." Lloyd narrowed his eyes.

"Do I?" Valemeros said almost amused. "Let us recap this situation then shall we?"

"I don't want to hear anything more from you. There are many crimes here you have done and many people who have lost their lives so senselessly by your hand. You shall pay for every single one of them." Lloyd said, seriousness completely taking over his tone.

"Oh but you do." the man lifted his hand.

Lloyd did not know why, but he could not draw his blades yet when the man was not even going to defend himself yet. Even a low life scum like him deserved to defend himself. He could feel his knuckles tense as if the skin with break due to how hard he gripped the hilts.

"You see, if it was not for you. These people would not have to die. I would have had no reason to kill them and they could have lived quite peacefully." Valemeros gave a sly smirk.

"You...lying bastard." Lloyd uttered out in disgust, he felt his muscles tremble as the fire deep inside continued to burn at his self control that tore a little at his body.

"Who is the lying one here? Who is worse?" he grinned, stepping closer. "The one who could be lying to you right to your face?" the man gestured towards the young swordsman as his grin faded to a honest face, which made Lloyds muscles tremble in anger. "Or the one that lies inside your head to make you feel better? Hmm?" he tilted his head curiously with a small sly smile.

"Your a monster." Lloyd could feel the pain start to root up in his teeth, if he can tensed his jaw anymore and he felt like he may actually crack his own teeth.

"What a coincidence, so are you." Valemeros continued to smirk as he closed his eyes while tilting his head skyward to run his fingers through his still damp hair.

Lloyd felt himself snap finally as he drew out both his swords and threw himself towards the noble man as both his swords swiped in a scissors motion towards the mans chest. He saw the noble mans hand suddenly come up as if he was holding something.

It was then that Lloyd felt the clang of his swords against another as a shimmering sword materialized in front of the man, the hilt appearing in the mans hand as the sword seemed to fade into in existence as the nobles purple eyes seemed to light up with amusement.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes for a moment as he was greeted with the mans mocking, low toned laughter. The man had some magic in him after all, that had to mean that he had some form of elven blood in him. But that also meant that the type of clothes he wore would betray what he was portraying to be. The people of Tethe'alla would never accept any one of elven blood as nobility.

Lloyd felt his arms tense as he stepped forward and pushed against the mans sword, forcing his form to leap back as he landed on the edge of the fountain with a graceful swing of his blade as the shimmer died down with the movement to let the sword to expose almost runic cravings in the surfaces of the blades edge.

"You just might have to do better then that."

Lloyd ran forward when the man made the taunting remark as he pushed off his right foot to leap into the air with a spin, swiping both blades down at the man as he seemed to duck the first and then raise his sword to the second, like he knew Lloyd had split second timing with his swords and knew when to adjust his swings while in progress. Either this man somehow knew how he fought, or the man himself was just skilled as well.

Landing on the edge of the fountain as well, he looked to the noble who stood there facing. Balanced on the edge as he kept his sword forward to keep Lloyd at a distance, a small smile still lingering on the mans face. Lloyd would play his game as he stepped forward in advance with fluid strikes as the man seemed to be able to parry somehow both of them back to back.

'His sword moves fast.' Lloyd blinked once, before narrowing his eyes in determination.

Lloyd continued to walk along the edge of the fountain as he took to the offense, his strikes exchanging skillfully between swipes, stabs and even countering the mans parry by counting on his sword to slide off to try to expose an opening for him to swipe at and gain the advantage. But somehow that one sword seemed to somehow always be there as the man blocked every strikes, counter and advance as if he was just amusing Lloyd.

Lloyd breathed out once before pulling in a deep breath, with that Lloyd focused his mind as he let himself become lost in the combat, he always knew when he did such he became more focused and more keen on his enemies and in such a state it became only him and the enemy before him as his strikes came faster, harder and more precise.

He could even see beyond the focused haze over his eyes, even if he was focusing on nothing more then just the mans sword and where his swords would need land. The mans expression changed drastically, it seemed the man was skilled yes. But he had underestimated Lloyd and now the man was retreating in his steps as he tried to continue blocking the strikes that Lloyd had lashed out at him as every swipe continued to cause Lloyd to step forward just a little.

'One of them at to at least hit.' Lloyd firmed in his mind, becoming more determined.

From a distance, Lloyd was nothing more then a blurred frenzy as his attacks came one after the other, when his sword hit against the mans sword it was quick to be pulled back only to lash out once more as the impact of the mans blade against Lloyds sent shock waves trembling down the mans arm.

Lloyd slashed forward as he felt his sword hit something else besides steel, his eyes narrowing in focus as he noticed the sword gracing the mans back hand. Causing to step back as he jumped high into the air, causing Lloyds eyes to follow the man as he landed on the edge of the fountain still, but a safe distance from him as he looked down to his hand.

Lloyd hit him, the man was not going to be that tough after all. The man could only take so much onslaught until his guard was broken through as Lloyd turned around and lifted both his swords into a combat stance. But the glint catching the glow of the sun caused Lloyd to stall for a moment.

An exsphere?

Lloyd was right, the man was pulling away the cloth of the glove that had just been slashed and it exposed the glowing orb of an exsphere. The mans face had become solemn, almost grieved as he looked down at the exsphere and then watched as the mans eyes closed and a smirk crawled along his face once more.

"That is more like it, Mr. Irving."

Lloyd breathed out once as he swung his swords slowly, not so much for display but to reposition his sword stance as the man turned around to greet him. Lloyd noticed the mans eyes that had once been a little dull and nothing more then amused seem to now come to life as he looked at Lloyd. Like this was the moment he was waiting for his entire life.

"I am not going to stop there. I'm never going to stop until you pay for all the lives you have taken today." Lloyd replied sternly, still in deep focus.

"Heh." was all that Lloyd heard come from the mans lips.

The man stepped forward as Lloyd shifted the swords in both his hands, he blinked once and when his eyes opened in that split second the man had already closed the distance as Lloyd felt a light gasp fill his lungs and the mans smirk had faded into that of a serious expression as the sword swiped upwards. Somehow in his surprise, Lloyd managed to cross his blades and block the impact. But the force of the blow managed to break the guard as his arms were flung into the air from the impact, his body was exposed and Lloyd could do nothing about it in the fragments of a second that passed.

The man lifted the sword to his side in a stabbing motion when the guard was broken, the sword was aimed for the heart as it was pushed forward and all Lloyd could do was try to shift his chest as he felt the sword slice through fabric before catching flesh as the skin broke under the force.

A grazing blow.

Lloyd stumbled back and landed onto the ground at the side of the fountain as he managed to regain control of his stance and prepare for the next attack. The man landed quickly and gracefully as he stepped forward again, his movements were quick...almost too quick for even Lloyd to detect.

The stabs came one after the other as Lloyd back away step by step as he would hit the stabs away just enough to miss him, but they came at such speed that Lloyd could not gain enough of a block to counter attack. The mans eyes were locked, only on him as he felt his cold and intent gaze fall upon his body. The gaze of a man who would not rest until he saw Lloyd bleeding at his feet.

Lloyd had seen that look one too many times.

The man stabbed forward once more as Lloyd made every effort to cross his blades and catch the sword between two edges enough to push it down and stab into the ground. The mans stance was off, Lloyd knew he would need to take every advantage of this moment. But he was sorely surprised as the man jumped towards him, using the sword as a solid hold as both feet kicked out and slammed Lloyd in the chest, making the young swordsman stagger back and almost trip onto the ground. But one of his swords managed to stab into the ground to keep him up before slashing the ground towards the man as blue energy engulfed Lloyds edge.

"Double..." Lloyd started as he threw the first blue shock wave of energy towards his enemy and then slashed downwards while it gave a blue glow as well, hitting the ground after the first wave as it gave a second wave crawling after the first "Demon Fang!"

The man landed and Lloyd gave a relieved breath out as the first wave crashed into the man, shaking his body with the force of the impact and then being hit with the second to knock him off balance just a little more as the man grunted once.

Lloyd knew he would not have much chance for the opportunities that he would have as he leaned forward into a full out dash as blue energy seemed to claim every surface inch of Lloyds body, turning his body to the side he placed his shoulder forward and let his feet leave the ground. Feeling his shoulder impact the mans chest as he flung his weight into the mans body, he pushed out with his left arm as strong as he could.

"Beast!" Lloyd yelled out in determination.

In those split few seconds, Lloyd felt the rumble of a lions roar inside the pits of his chest as he called out the name, the rage exploded from within him, granting Lloyd the strength he would need to push himself against any enemy and send them to the ground. The strength of the beast overtaking him for that one moment before the energy pounced off his body like a lion and the energy clashed hard enough to make the energy sound like it was roaring out.

Lloyd stagged back to regain his footing as the man was sent to the ground hard, the backs of his shoulders sent to crash against the stone fountain as he let out a grunt and was left motionless against the wall of stone.

Lloyd had won in one opportunity.

Feeling his aching muscles rage out in pain, for such a short battle it seemed to take its toll on his form as he breathed out and lowered his swords for a moment. But he was mindful and kept them tight in his grip, ready to raise the alarm should he need to.

Lloyd felt his senses snap back into place as the mans laughter seemed to fill the air, looking down at the man he could not believe it. His shoulders were trembling under his laughter as the man slowly rose to his feet. His head rose once more, his purple hair now in disarray after the tumble to the ground so the bangs covered over one of his purple eyes.

"I have to admit. This was fun." the man slowly rose his hand to brush the bangs from his face so both eyes were free and he stared right at Lloyd.

His lips were laughing and his expression was amused, but his eyes burned intently with nothing but malice in his eyes.

Lloyd raised his swords once more as he gritted his teeth together.

This man was not going to be defeated that easily.

'Valemeros...who is this man?' Lloyd thought.


	5. The Avenger of Luin, Sheena

Chapter 5

Sheena back flipped into the air, tossing seals before landing into a kneeling position as she breathed out in a heave. Her head was pounding from the exhaust that was thumping into her form as her lungs reached out to grasp what air she could get.

The man lifted his sword into the air, but Sheena could not help but note that the man seemed to lift it as if it had become heavier in his grasp.

A ray of hope she thought she could cling to. He was getting worn out as all.

"Hold still." the man huffed. "I'll gut you and strangle you with your intestines." he roughed out in obvious irritation through stunted breathes.

Sheena looked over to the female, she noted that the woman seemed to have more fortitude then the male. She had been assaulting Sheena from the distance the entire battle with Fireballs, Proton and even some powerful Grave spells that torn the ground asunder to try to bury, impale and tear Sheena apart in the gravel.

This woman has a grasp on spells that Raine and Genius had. I am in a little bit of trouble here. Her teeth gritted together and she could not help but also wonder how much mana the woman could possibly draw upon still to continue her assault.

Sheena tensed as the woman slammed her staff into the ground and noticed the dirt start to shake as a lighted crest appeared at her feet, the index finger and middle finger of the woman raising to her lips as she murmured her incantations with her eyes closed.

Sheena knew she would need to stop her if she had any hope of winning this battle, the twos were better then the normal class of their kind that she had fought and that thought made her uneasy.

"Die!" yelled the male as he lunged forward, lifting his sword.

Sheena felt her senses snap too as her head turned to the man and she watched as in that moment, everything once more turned to slow motion. The adrenaline coursing through her system made her senses acutely aware that single moment as the man advanced.

Leaping forward, Sheena landed on one leg, shifting her weight on her heel as the man brought the sword down and her opposite leg flung out to slam into the flat side of the mans sword as it knocked him off balance and her kicking foot landed on the ground. The sudden stopped momentum caused her to stop with her back turned to the man, bending both knees she flung herself backwards, over the mans head as she felt the world become still for just that moment. This was the very moment she needed as she reacted as quickly as she could, pulling out a seal from what seemed to be from her glove as she dropped her arm in the moment she was floating over the male and slapped the seal on top of the mans head.

Her senses kicked down as everything resumed normal time flow as she continued her leap over the man and curled into a ball so she could turn in the air and switch from landing head first to landing feet first, facing the man as she adjusted her feet to twist gracefully on the spot to face the casting mage and with all the strength Sheena could muster, she dashed forward while behind her waist, as if reaching into her pink lower back bow and twisted to hear a clicking sound.

Sheena drew out a slim tanto from her lower back that was concealed by the knot of her pink bow as she felt her eyes narrow in focus on the woman standing before her. Listening to the incantation, she knew that the woman was almost done lipping the last syllables of her spell.

It has to be now! Sheena screamed in her head as she brought her strongest foot forward and pushed off with as much energy and strength as possible to make herself airborne to try to cover the remaining distance between herself and the murmuring woman.

Sheena managed to close that distance nicely as she held the tanto in her left hand, coming from the left side of the as the graceful ninja slashed outwards, feeling the slight resistance of flesh give under the edge of the blade.

Sheena landed to a kneel once more, looking at the edge as she gave a light sigh, while blood trailed down the blade. No spells. I did it. I interrupted her. Sheena felt the gentle breeze of relief in a figurative sense as she looked over her shoulder. The look of intent still burning in her eyes.

Slowly standing, she watched as the woman suddenly gripped her neck, blood trailed down the skin and even down her revealing V front dress as it streamed down her breasts to the middle of her chest. The woman gagged and sputtered for a moment as her hand pressed desperately to stop the flow of blood from spilling her life away.

"You monsters. You slaughtered an entire village." Sheena felt her eyes narrow, mercy was a lost concept to her right now. Revenge was all she could feel towards the choking mage as she took a step back.

"Monique!" Cecil yelled in a mix of anger and horror.

Sheena's eyes glared in the mans direction as he attempted to run towards her and Sheena motioned gracefully with her free hands finger as the seal gave a glow and once more engulfed the man in an explosion from her Pyre Seal.

"Argh!" came the grunting yell.

The woman continued to try to press the wound closed, words were obviously nothing she was going to be able to say now. Staying alive for the few seconds that Sheena would let her should be the only thing going through her mind.

At least that is how Sheena felt.

"You will answer for every single crime." Sheena's voice had gone cold, like when she first met with Lloyd and the group. It was like she had entered assassin mode as her eyes matched her tone.

"Mon...ique..." Cecil grunted as he was brought down to his hands and knees from the blast.

Sheena lifted her tanto in front of her own face so the mage could see her own blood still sliding down the blades edge as Sheena looked passed the blade straight at her target.

"You will..." Sheena hesitated for a moment, but then felt the devastation of Luin hit her once more, the men...the woman...and the children. A flash of the child she saved from the desains crossed her mind and she felt her heart ache and even break a little. Was she claimed in the slaughter as well? Sheena knew she was. Her eyes became cold once more. "pay for everything...every life you have taken here today will be another swipe from my blade." Sheena had never felt herself say such threats before, but emotion was speaking for her now. "And you will bleed out your sins. Maybe then you will realize the pain you have caused she stepped closer still.

"ARGH!" Cecil's yell came as he pushed himself to his feet with a forward lunge towards the ninja.

Sheena's eyes looked to the side for a moment as the man raised his sword, his other hand balled up into a fist as she turned her attention from the wizard and faced the determined warrior. She could not forget to punish him as well for everything he had done.

She noticed the man made a clumsy swing down at her, obviously a swing in nothing but anger would cause such a warrior to make a careless opening attack. Sheena turned her tanto so it was on a side sloop and tensed her arm, pushing her weight into the deflecting shot as the sword hit the tanto, however due to how Sheena angled the edge its power slide right off to the side and was cast away with a push of Sheena's hand.

The man was exposed. Sheena's eyes focused once more. But this time it was on the man and what vital areas he had kept open to her now.

Sheena saw the mans balled up fist raise towards her, she thought he would be going for a punch. But his arm was too far away and she knew that even he would have known that such an attack was too much time for Sheena, she could evade it without so much as feeling even the momentum air of the swing hit her. But Sheena noticed he opened his hand while in mid swing and she caught a glimpse of brown.

Dirt!

Sheena was too late as she felt the brown soil hit her eyes and then felt an impact against her chest, the man had just kicked her and she stumbled backwards and even caught her own footing in the surprise of the attack as she hit the ground. But even blind she could not afford even a second of having her guard down as she rolled with the momentum and got herself to a kneel once more and used her free hand to wipe her face and try to clear her vision as quickly as possible.

"Monique, come on! We have to go! Remember what the master said! We cannot go dieing on him today!" the man yelled at the woman, anger and worry filling his tone as if he was trying to be strong and demanding to the woman and mask his obvious worry.

Sheena's stood up as she felt her visions clear and watched as the two ran off, the man was aiding the woman in her steps, since even Sheena knew she would not be able to get far with the wounds like that if she pushed herself too much.

"Hold it!" Sheena found herself bellowing out in anger.

Sheena was about to step forward when she sudden felt a tremor through the ground in a certain direction and her advance quickly ended as she turned to look in the direction.

Lloyd. That came from his direction.

Sheena looked to the retreating duo and then back over in his direction where he had run off to. Anger might have been a dominate emotion she felt coursing through her blood and her breathing increased as if the anger needed an outlet from her body. But even she felt that wash away when she felt that tremor, it did not feel well to her somehow.

She lost Luin, she was not about to lose Lloyd too if he was in trouble. She trusted her own instincts enough to know that was not a tremor she wanted to feel, for someone reason she felt as if she knew that that tremor was not caused by any attack that Lloyd knew.

Sheena knew she would need a little time to rest, but her worry and her heart would not allow it as she forced herself to dash forward, pulling a seal from her tunic that shimmered blue and placing her other hand behind her to slide the tanto back into its concealed spot in the knot of her pink bow so she had another hand to pull out a second seal and from there she let her feet dance their way towards Lloyds location. Any debris that was in her path was gracefully avoid by her lighter then air strides.

"Lloyd...please be alright." she found herself whispering, even if breath was something she was supposed to be short on at the moment.

- - - - -

Sheena made it to the center and the sight she saw made her heart sink for that moment. She could not help but feel herself become swallowed up in a sudden pit of fear, dread and sorrow.

Lloyd laid on the ground as the majestically clothed man walked towards the fallen swordsman, he had some runed blade that he was pointing at Lloyds body and if she felt any need to pay attention to him she might have heard what he said.

But her heart stopped at the sight of Lloyd.

Her heart started to slowly crack and shatter within her chest, seeing him motionless there for the while. Her despair allowing her to believe that the man had actually...had actually...

She could not even bring herself to complete that thought, her heart did it for her.

Her hearts cracks melted together and became solid in a single bright ray of hope as Lloyd stirred and pushed himself to his elbows to stare up to the man.

He's alive!

She felt her heart dance for utter joy for that split moment, before her eyes instantly moved from Lloyd over the one who threatened him. The joy was quickly replaced with an anger she could not control, and even if she could, she probably would not want to.

She felt this protective tremble surge through her body, giving her a sudden blast of vigor that would grant her the second wind she would need. She acted out of instinct in this moment as she pushed her foot forward and went into a mad dash.

She felt her legs pick up a speed that she had never thought was even possible but her.

The man was threatening Lloyd.

Her senses became acute in that moment that she felt the sudden need to protect him more then she had ever had the feeling to protect anything in her life.

The man was threatening Lloyd.

This man would be dead.

"This is where we part ways then, Mr. Irving." the mysterious man said.

Sheena could hear him now, she was focused on just him. Her new mortal enemy.

Sheena lunged forward with a foot as she kicked the mans sword away from Lloyds chest, planting the kicking foot on the ground to make her stop sudden as her head turned while her body twisted to face the man all in one motion so she could see the look on his face.

And it was there too, the man was shocked and even dumb struck for all the few seconds that she would need him to be as her palm shoved forward until it slammed into the mans chest. The effect of her adrenaline once more let her see things as if time was going slow, so she could enjoy the mans gasp as she impact his chest. Bending her knee she allowed herself to drop to the ground just so her other leg could position straight and kick the man from behind the knees, he had become airborne as he started to fall towards the ground.

She let him fall until he impact the dirt.

Slapping her other hand to his chest she recovered quickly and rolled to the side to Lloyd as her arms slide around his form and she held him close to her body, protectively.

He was not going to hurt Lloyd anymore.

She jumped into the air with Lloyd held close, away from the guy as he recovered and she landed near the fountain.

She felt her anger die down in an instant as she gently placed Lloyd against the fountain, he looked at her and when his lips parted, her senses picked up just to hear him speak.

"Sheena..."

Sheena placed a finger against her lips and gave a small smile, how the man could make her smile during a time like this was startling to even her as she willed him to be silent for a moment longer.

She would take care of him. Just as she took care of her during their travels.

The groans of the man was heard behind her as she felt the calm, gentle nature become snuffed out as her mind reminded herself of the man who put Lloyd in this condition and her head turned slowly from Lloyd to look over her shoulder at the man.

Right...Him.

The man rose as he seemed to give her a small observing glare. Good, I get your attention now, big boy? She could not help but think to herself as she slowly stood to face the man and stand between him and Lloyd, it was on a subconscious level this time.

"My my, they do say that mighty warriors do have angels looking out for them. How fortunate of Mr. Irving for your divine intervention." he gave a weak laughter, dusting himself off with his free hand.

"Shut up! You and I have nothing to say." Sheena said in a stern, confronting tone as she pulled out two more seals from her tunic once more.

"Hm, Purple ninja...beauty of the angels...temper of the beasts and determination of a stubborn mule." he rested the sword on his shoulder, obviously eying her up and down. She felt disgusted having this mans eyes travel anywhere on her body. "Uses magic fused seals in battle. Ms. Fujibayashi. Current head of the clan of the people of Mizuho." he nodded to himself with a smile.

"You forgot something." Sheena felt her muscles tense.

"Oh? How uncharacteristic of me." He looked up thoughtfully. "And what did I forget?"

"That I am the ninja that just brought you down."

Sheena bend her right leg and used the force to lunge forward once more towards the man while his stance was off and he was dazing off towards the sky.

The man gave a horizontal swipe that Sheena dodged and gave small, fast but low impacting hits to the mans chest. She knew what she had to do, dodge this man that has some attacks that brought Lloyd down and strike fast and get out of range.

The tactic proved to be in her advantage as the man swiped at her, stabbed and even tried to close the distance so she would be forced into him. But Sheena was light on her feet, flexible and focused like she had never been before. She knew why she was given this sudden burst of fighting ability, she was fighting for something she truly believed in and wanted to keep safe.

That would make her invincible.

Sheena went in quick, jabbing at the mans body, legs, shoulder and even back. Whatever she could hit she would take it and then she would move out just before the man would swipe at her.

He's got speed. I'll give him that. Sheena thought, noticing how even in this state she had to be on her toes to dodge the counterattacks of this noble dressed man.

Sheena felt the cold steel gently slice against her hip as the sword tore the cloth while Sheena was just leaping out of range of the swipe, or so she thought as she bounced back to gain distance and the man looked at her with an arrogant smirk crossing his face.

"My my, you are even more agile and quick then I was even told. I see words do some people no justice. Pity you do not have the strikes to back it up. I barely felt those." he laughed amused.

Sheena could not help but just a sly smirk of her own, which made the noble tilt his head in a curious fashion at the ninja as she lowered her stance and placed both her hands together, eying the man intently.

"No, but you will feel this." she confessed.

Sheena started to make fast, rapid but also precise hand gestures as she closed her eyes.

Sheena watched as all the seals that Sheena had stuck on his body everywhere that she hit started to give off a faint glow as she activated each and every seal.

"Wh-what?" The man blurted out as he looked down at his body, noticing the glow and he instantly tried to pull one off his form.

Sheena had just completed her hand gestures and spread her arms wide apart as the seals exploded in a elemental shower of fire, ice, lightning, shadow and all her wonderful little seals she had tucked away on his form.

"Arg!" such a sound Sheena would love to hear more from the man who almost took something away from her that she knew she would not be able to be without.

The ground kicked up a considerable amount of dirt from the sudden blast of elemental fused seals.

"Impressive. Very Impressive." she heard a voice from the dust as her eyes went wide.

"No way." Sheena whispered in a cuss to herself.

"Sheena." she heard the wounded swordsman behind her as her head turned with an expression of worry as the young man had pulled himself up, holding his right hand as he looked to her. He had that look of determination on him that made Sheena know that she was not going to convince him to stay down and rest.

"Lloyd, I can handle this." Sheena tried to sound firm, strong. In control.

Lloyd leaned over and lightly placed his weight against Sheena's right shoulder as she froze for a moment and looked to him, he whispered into her ear so the man could not hear. The dust would grant them just a little more time.

Don't whisper into my ear now, Lloyd. Sheena resisted a reaction.

Sheena listened to him intently thought, fighting the urge to close her eyes before giving him a determined nod as he pushed himself off of her and managed to stand on his own. Lloyd was going to muster his last bit of strength, she could not help but admire his will and fortitude.

The dust cleared as the seemed to give a laughter, Sheena watched as she could now see a figure in the dust and she looked to Lloyd as she waited for him to be ready, making sure he could see it as well as she the man lifted his swords.

"Here we go!" Sheena called out, throwing a deep purple card in front of her as it floated into the air.

Lloyd was suddenly consumed in a dark purple smoke like mist that swirled at his feet and Lloyd closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them as if he was mentally targeting the figure in the clearing dust and then throwing himself forward.

Lloyd hit the card with the tip of his sword as it burst into a dark energy that seemed to form into the body of a snake that was entwined around Lloyds blade as he threw himself into the dust.

"Dark Serpent!" Lloyd called out.

Sheena closed her eyes, her senses actually shutting off for that moment as she seemed to go into a meditative state. The sudden conflict that had erupted between Lloyd and the noble man had become blocked out of her mind as she started to focus into calling forth the power they would need to defeat this man, the hair on the back of her neck started to raise as she chanted the words.

"I call upon the hammer of godly lightning. I summon thee. Come Volt!" Sheena pushed all the mana flowing through her body up to her chest like she always did to summon the powers she needed as she felt the mana burn hot within her chest like it would try and rip though.

Sheena gave a gasp as the energy was sapped from her form and she looked up towards the sky as the air started to crackle, it was just in time too as Lloyd was once more cast to the ground and this time at her feet as she gasped.

"Lloyd!" She knelled down as she lifted him up to a sitting position.

"Sheena...be careful." he grunted out.

She pulled him up as her arms wrapped around his neck as she looked up towards the man who had done this to her, blood seemed to be trickling down the right side of his torso, the Dark Serpent hit. That much she knew cause the wound looked like it was already being infested with dark matter that was known to make the body feverish under its corrupting effects against the body.

"You just had to go...and aggravate me." he gave a slight sneer towards the two.

Sheena only brought Lloyd closer to her body in a tighter embrace as she narrowed her eyes at him, the man continued to advance towards them, the tip of the sword dragged along the ground.

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked a question without needing further words.

"Any time now, Lloyd." she said softly.

"But I assure you..." Valemeros mocked.

"You talk too much." Sheena gave a weak smile.

The noble was about to speak as Sheena felt her arms tighten around Lloyd, she was going to prepare to leap into the air as the air started to crackle and thunder above, energy snapped into existence. Sheena watched as the mans eyes looked upwards, that was her chance.

She pushed up, leaping backwards with Lloyd in her grasp as she had to get distance away from the man. Volt did not strike her with the lightning intentionally, but his power was very unpredictable as well as powerful.

"What...the?" Valemeros uttered.

The energy suddenly composed rapidly into a surging energy call with piercing eyes as it gave an almost inaudible while hovering above the noble.

"A...Summon Spirit!" he gritted his teeth, his eyes turning to meet with Sheena.

She was a safe distance away, sitting against the fountain securing Lloyd.

The man tried to step forward, but she knew he was too late as the ground around him erupted under the surging strikes of lightning, his form becoming engulfed in the energy of Volt as the lightning crackles itself as it fizzled out into air was deafening, Sheena had to close her eyes and turn her head as the force of the blast sent ground debris flying through the air.

Sheena opened her eyes and looked in front of her once more. As sudden as Volt had showed, Volt had disappeared just as quickly while leaving nothing but devastation in his wake. She could not picture the man surviving the attack like that as she breathed out softly once.

"You impudent little harlot." came a rough, ragged tone.

Lloyd let out a surprised grunt as Sheena felt his muscles tense under her arms, Sheena herself did not believe what she saw as the man walked out from the wreckage.

How was it possible he looked almost untouched besides the tear at the side of the robe. But his facial expression betrayed his appearance, he bared the expression of a man who is suppressing internal pain and agony as his voice tone was also shaken.

The man looked at the both of them as Sheena gave a determined glare, keeping her hold on Lloyd, she did not look over to Lloyd to see if he was staring at their enemy as well or not as the man looked down to the both of them. She saw as his eyes went from hers to Lloyd's.

"I see..." he grunted outwards and gave a weak smirk, a forced expression.

Sheena was suddenly taken back when the man turned and ran towards the exit of the village.

"Oh no you don't!" Sheena exclaimed as she was about to release Lloyd to chase after the man, but her instinct kept her back for just a moment, feeling Lloyd twitch in her arms as a grunt escaped his lips and his body went limp in her arms as she felt her eyes fall upon Lloyd.

He had passed out, his red clothing was torn in various parts of his chest, arm and even legs. The man had landed swiping blows that were bleeding Lloyd slowly to his death. He had passed out now that the conflict was over and his body needed to shut down and relax.

"Lloyd!" she exclaimed in worry.

"Chase me or leave him! The choice is yours!" the man exclaimed while looking over his shoulder, not stopping his pace as he made his way out of the village.

"...dammit." Sheena gritted her teeth, but then instantly felt herself soften as she looked down at Lloyd, worry filling her heart as the young swordsman lay against her wounded.

I need to get Lloyd somewhere where he can rest and the wounds can be taken care. But where? Sheena her heart start to thump rapidly in her chest.

She had fought to protect him and she had succeeded in driving off his attacker, but she just might lose him yet.

That thought sent panic through her heart.


	6. You can cure wounds but not density

Chapter 6

Lloyd cracked his eyes opened as light invaded his sight, the glare of the sun stabbed his vision like searing acid as he gave a weak groan.

"Lloyd, don't move!"

_That's...Sheena's voice._ Lloyd thought to himself.

His body twitched one and he felt every single slice of flesh spark to life in agony as he gave a grunt and felt his eyes closed. He might have heard Sheena's voice again, but he was out of it before his mind could register the thought.

- - - -

Lloyd's eyes cracked open again as he felt his body tense for a moment in his waking, allowing the nerves to snap to life and remind him of his wounds. But he battled against the pain as he pushed himself to a sitting position as she breathed out his first deep breath.

"Ar...argh." Lloyd grunted as he raised a hand to his ribs.

_Wh-what's this? _He wondered without checking throughly first, one of those think first reactions as he looked down for a moment. _Bandages_. Lloyd completed as he observed his wounds.

The fresh wounds seemed to be bound pretty professionally and he was relieved to notice that no blood was seeping through the white bandage surface. That just meant that perhaps he was not as bad off as he originally thought he was.

He ignored the fact he was just left in his boxers, his legs bound in bandages around his thighs and one around his hamstring. He had left that battle second best as he felt his mind remembering to when the battle turned so horribly against his favor.

The muscles of his right shoulder twitched once as he gritted his teeth together and felt his left hand come up to grasp at his wounded shoulder as he breathed out heavily, realizing what it was that had brought him to the mercy of that man...Valemeros.

This wounded shoulder from a time when he had crossed blades with his father and he was determined to win. His fathers defeat did not come without a price however as Lloyd left that battle a little less of a warrior then he wished. His shoulder ached and cried out in agony as he held it to his form, realizing it was only close now that he could get any peace and rest the tearing muscles.

He was so focused on the pain that he did not feel the weight press down on the bed beside him as he clutched his eyes closed and gave a light growl of agony.

"Lloyd..." that was Sheena's voice as his eyes opened suddenly and he looked over his shoulder to see the worried ninja, she had knelled on the edge of the bed and was leaning in close to him as she reached out to him slowly.

_Has she been here the entire time? _Lloyd thought.

He had suddenly become aware of his surroundings as he looked around for a moment, he did not recognize the room he was in. But something tugged in him that he should remember it as he looked out to the window. _Night?_ The thought struck his mind as he looked back to the worried Sheena once more.

"Sheena...How long have I..." Lloyd said, before he felt his right shoulder drop from its spot, earning a sudden twitch of pain from his nerves as he held back a grunt.

"Lloyd!" Sheena's voice lifted in worry as she crossed the small distance between them as he felt her hands gentle place themselves on his shoulders as if to keep his balance. "You have been out of it for the entire day." she whispered, he could sense her worry in her tone. She was doing nothing to hide it as he closed his eyes and tried to push the pain back.

"What happened to-" Lloyd was about to ask, his mind was suddenly focused on the man who put him in this state. Clutching his shoulder against his body.

"Lloyd!" She said, maybe a little too loud as he felt his ear ring for a moment.

"Wha-" were the first words he could say.

"Now is not the time to think about that. You have to recover." Sheena's voice was close to his ear as he opened them and turned to look over his shoulder at her.

"Sheena...I..." he was about to reply, but the worry in her brown eyes managed to reflect the moon perfectly. He could swear that he saw tears well up in the bottom of her eyes as he had a stirring inside that told him not to fight against her words as he closed his eyes and breathed out.

"No, you're right Sheena." Lloyd confessed as he lowered his head and closed his eyes.

_Those people, all those people from Luin were slaughtered and I was not even strong enough to stop the man from getting away. He can be out there killing more innocent people._ Lloyd thought bitterly as he let out a grunt of self disgust.

His mind snapped back to the night as he felt arms lace around his form, his body becoming stiff for that moment as he opened his eyes to notice that Sheena had held him from behind, an embrace of comfort as he looked over his shoulder for a moment at her. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to rest against him, almost like she was asleep.

But he knew she wasn't.

Lloyd parted his lips to say something, he was not sure what he was going to say to her in this moment as his mind buzzed in too many directions as he only did what he thought would be the safest as he breathed in deeply.

The pain had seemed to vanish from his body. Soothed.

Lloyd lowered his head again as he closed his eyes, not disrupting this moment as he felt Sheena's form press up against the back of his own. Had he been able to be in a less distracted state of mind, he would have been able to just focus on her and perhaps even focus on how the cloth of her garb felt against what exposed skin he had from the bandages.

All he felt currently was nothing but her beating heart against his back.

_Thank you Sheena, for staying with me through this. _Lloyd thought to himself, his fingers dug into his injured shoulder as he felt his body tense for a moment. _Valemeros, what do you want? Why are you killing the lives of the innocent?_

Lloyd felt his body relax after the moment of tensing within the arms of the ninja. Realizing that he had not yet regained enough of his strength to move around just yet. He would heed Sheena's advice before heading out to find the man Valemeros before he caused more pain onto undeserving people of the combined world.

- - - -

Walking into the finely decorated room, a room fitting for royalty. The man known as Valemeros walked in as he pressed his fingers into the side of his body.

The wound was threatening to become infected by the Dark Serpent attack.

"Sir!" Cecil exclaimed suddenly, standing up from the safe that was facing the fireplace as he noticed his lord was wounded.

"What did I tell you about you both coming around my manor? Do you want to jeopardize everything that we are working for?" Valemeros hissed.

His tone had transformed from his calm and collected tone to one of agitation at seeing the man there in his living room inside the manor was enough to throw him off suddenly after experiencing a surprising turn of events in Luin.

It also agitated him that his perfect body might be marred from that attack. At least he believed he had a perfect body, regardless of what the opinion was now. This wound could threaten it either way.

"I am sorry Sir, you must forgive us. But we had nowhere else to go." Cecil bowed his head before gesturing towards the sofa. "But...Monique, Sir."

Valemeros arched an eyebrow, thinking in his head that this better be good as he crossed the distance to see Monique laying on his sofa, her face and skin were pale. Blood was dried to her neck and what flesh was exposed of her V cut attire. Her breathing had become shallow to the point of almost not being detected, if not for the dried blood that had cracked under her breathing movements.

"She is getting blood on my sofa." Valemeros stated calmly, as if expecting her to stop bleeding.

"Sir?" Cecil said worried.

Valemeros looked over to the man, seeing his Desian helmet still on his head, matching the rest of his Desian uniform as he looked over to Valemeros, a slight frown on his face.

"Take that thing off in my house." Valemeros remarked, waving his hand towards the helmet as he turned back to Monique, slowing going down to his knees.

"Oh, Sorry Sir." the man lifted his hands until his fingers fumbled under the chin to unclasp the straps. Raising his hands from there to place them firmly on both sides of his own head as he pulled the helmet off and then tucked it underneath his arm.

"Forgot that in my manor you do not represent the Desian force?" Valemeros asked calmly, it was like in the presence of his minions he showed no pain. He pushed the infesting poison aside for a moment as he kept his eyes on the wounded mage.

Valemeros placed his hands carefully on the womans helmet, one hand gently tugging away at the strap below her chin, careful not to disturb the cloth that was bandaged to her neck as he felt the leather strap come loose. Cradling her head in a gentle fashion that was normally reserved for lovers as he removed her helmet and then let the woman rest her head on the sofa pillow once more.

"Sir is she-" Cecil started, but was silenced as the man raised his hand.

"Just, do not speak. I shall need to focus with this one." Valemeros commented as he looked down at the wounded woman.

She had lost a lot of blood, her eyes had the glaze over that showed signs of the lingering claws of death trying to take another mortal soul from this realm and bring it into the embrace of the afterlife as the noble slowly waved his hand over his eyes sight to test for any reaction.

There was none.

Valemeros leaned forward as he slide his fingers through the womans crimson hair, pushing back enough hair to place his lips next to her ear as he seemed to whisper softly into them. Cecil attempted to lean forward to try to listen to what was being said, but he could hear nothing but the murmurs of his lord.

"You're time is not yet, Monique. You cannot leave this world just yet." he whispered softly, his other hand was reaching into his robe as he slide his fingers along a smooth surface, like marble.

A shimmer danced along the mans finger tips as his lips grazed the surface of her ear as if whispering in intimacy.

Monique's chest heaved as she rose slightly from the sofa, her glazed eyes coloring back to a rich green as she gave a sudden gasp, her fingers reaching up to rip the bandage off as if it were strangling her. Her once shallow breathes were replaced with deep, almost suffocated gasps as she shut her eyes closed and started to cough, leaning over to the side of the sofa as her face pressed against the nobles cloth.

Valemeros placed his hand gently on her head as he gave it a gentle pat for a moment and then slowly stood up to face Cecil. The look of shock and amazement were written on it like paint smeared across a blank canvas as his eyes looked at Monique.

He watched the open wound bleeds no more as the skin pulled together and sealed over, his eyes looking over to his lord and master. Speechless.

Valemeros placed a hand on the young mans shoulder gently as he gave a very predictable smirk and walked passed him, towards his private chambers.

"Sir." Cecil said, turning his head as he watched the man take his leave.

"Be out at night, use the shadows to conceal you. No one must know either of you were here." Valemeros commented without even looking over his shoulder as he continued into his chambers.

"Yes Sir."

Cecil looked over to Monique with a light sigh as she continued to gasp, but it was not of worry to him. She knew how to breath, and hers would steady herself eventually as he raised a hand up to brush it through his sweat matted black hair.

- - - -

Lloyd spent the next two days recovering in what he discovered to be one of the rooms in Hima.

He was surprised when Sheena would be quick to come to tend to his wounds or whenever he seemed to grunt in pain or discomfort. But the ninja was also quick to give him distance. He did not know why and every time he looked at her, she seemed to look away and daze off.

_Maybe she is disappointed in me. _Lloyd thought bitterly to himself, looking out the window as he let a memory flood him. _Of course she is, I could not even avenge those people in Luin. She cared for that town and I let her down. I would be disgusted in me too._

Lloyd felt his fingers grip against the wood railing of the window. He felt his wounds were healing fast enough. But it was times like this that he did miss Raine's healing arts, not so much her lectures. Well maybe apart of him actually missed that as well...more then he would admit.

"Sheena." Lloyd said, the past two days were days of torture in pain and silence as she seemed to look over to him. At least he believed she was, he had started to feel her eyes on him and he knew or felt she was there.

"What is it, Lloyd?" Sheena said.

He could not determine what he heard her tone, whatever it was she was purposely hiding from him.

"Do you..." he started, then closed his eyes for a moment and tried to find the wording.

_Why is it so hard to ask such a question? _Lloyd thought.

"No. Nevermind." Lloyd said as he forced his eyes open.

The next few hours were spent in painful silence.

- - - -

Lloyd felt himself wake the next morning as the sun hit him in the eyes from the window.

With a light moan, the swordsman lifted himself up from the bed as he lifted himself up once more, another day had passed and he was another day stronger was the way he was looking at it.

"Lloyd?" came the female voice.

It startled him as he even let his nerves jump a little inside his skin as he turned to face the direction of the voice, Sheena was already awake or had she been awake the entire night? If she had been awake the entire night, then that only meant one thing. Something that made Lloyd nervous as he thought about what it could be.

Realization.

"Is everything alright, Sheena?" Lloyd asked.

"What are we going to do now?" she wondered.

He instantly felt himself ease, as if the weight that was there in a figurative sense had been lifted when she mentioned on what WE will do. He let out a shuddered breath as he lowered his head.

Such emotions of relief washed over him too much he could swear if he did not keep himself in check he would not be able to keep himself composed as he let out a calming breath.

"Lloyd?" she asked, worry was in her voice again.

The weight shifted once more on the edge of the bed. Sheen had moved and placed a knee on the edge once more and reached out slowly towards him, he could tell she was as he looked at her from the top of his vision when his head was lowered.

"Thank you...Sheena." Lloyd stated.

"Huh?" she said, suddenly confused.

Lloyd just felt this tidal wave of gratefulness wash over him in a controllable calming as he realized that Sheena was not contemplating leaving him after his display back in Luin. Then again he should have smacked himself silly thinking that Sheena would abandon him due to that.

But it was a worry he felt over their couple of days of silence.

"Just for being here Sheena." Lloyd answered her.

He saw a flush of red seem to highlight her once serious expression as she turned to look to the side, even go as far as to turn her body to try and further hide her face. He could not help but find it adorable how the woman always tried to hide how she blushed, always depending on a strong front and that only made her moments of flushed redness that much more alluring.

"Lloyd stop that." she said, her tone had taken a surprised shakiness to it. Which only let a smile come onto Lloyd face.

"So then, we're going to be to together." He felt that stupid smile come onto his face.

"Wh-what? You mean-" Sheena looked at Lloyd with wide eyes, she seemed to surprised and he did not know exactly why. "Are you asking for us to-" she was trying to find the words.

"That's right." Lloyd nodded as she looked to him speechless.

Lloyd slide off the bed and started his way towards the window, he did not care if he was still only wearing the bandages across his body and boxers. Nor did he ever notice that Sheena always made the attempt to look away whenever he walked around like that.

"Together we are going to find that man and put an end to whatever he is planning before more people have to suffer." he clenched his hand into a determined fist. "We cannot let Luin's destruction go unanswered, Sheena." he looked over to Sheena and blinks once.

Was her head down?

He walked over to her to her and leaned in over her shoulder, he palm was covering her face and she seemed to be muttering something into her head.

"Sheena? Are you alright?" Lloyd said worried.

He watched as her face slide over to the side as she leaned her cheek into her palm and let out a sigh, looking at Lloyd with all the blush instantly vanished, her eyes slightly narrowed at him like she had just given up. He had seen that look before.

"Idiot." she commented at him.

"...What do you mean?"Lloyd thought for a moment."Oh, did you want to split up and investigate different locations or something?" Lloyd said, the tone he used was a little uneasy.

"No Lloyd, it's nothing."Sheena breathed out once, closing her eyes.


	7. An unsaid promise ring?

Chapter 7

Sheena sat on the railing of the balcony outside the wooden house of which Lloyd was recovering in. She peacefully looked over the events of everyday life unfolding in Hima and tried to put it out of her mind on how much of a fool she may have sounded like two nights back.

Lloyd was making a decent recovery from his battle and she could not help but wonder as well on what could have cut him so badly in such a short time. Lloyd was no second rate swordsman, she was often amazed, baffled and even admired his ability to fight and she watched him grow from a careless and haphazard swinger to an expert battle tactician and precise striker.

"What are you doing out here?" came the familiar male tone.

She could not help but give even a small smile at his tone, no matter where her mind was as she looked over her shoulder, crossing one leg over the other while letting out a peaceful sigh.

"Hm?Oh nothing. I was just....thinking." she said as she looked forward and nodded to herself.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked.

How he could make such statements sound so innocent and so sincere always calmed her as she looked to the ground for a moment and closed her eyes.

"About you." she confessed.

"Me?" he had that genuine curious tone to his voice. "Why were you thinking about me?"

_I sometimes wonder if he even understands the concept. _Sheena could not help but let herself think as she rested an elbow on her lap and placed her cheek against the palm of her hand. She decided to dismiss that topic and stick with what she originally had on her mind.

"Lloyd, what did that man do to you?" She asked, keeping her cheek in the palm of her hand, trying to look as laid back as possible like this sort of topic was normal.

She watched as Lloyd seemed to transform into a stern expression as he walked over next to her and placed his forearms on the railings while looking out. She could not help but note that the young swordsman was flashing back to the fight itself as she could not help but feel sorry for him. He was wounded sure, but he also had to relive the defeat...no matter how much the wounds healed

Lloyd wore his damaged red clothes once more, it still had the swipes and nicks through the surface, but at least it was cleaned. Sheena at least found some light in that. She had taken it to the river herself to get it cleaned by her hands. But she knew nothing about patching up the damage on his red attire.

Her eyes escaped the red tunic as she looked upon his still firm features and dispute the situation and the gravity she thought that her question was, she was drawn into every detail of his face. There was one swipe across his cheek that she believed would end up leaving a scar.

A frown crossed her face at the thought of him being scarred from the fight.

"He used a certain attack that I have not seen anyone use an attack like he did." Lloyd's voice suddenly snapped her attention from his facial details as she blinked once and focused once more on him, but what he was saying.

"An attack?" She wondered what type of attack would ''' that causes those types of damage.

- - - -

Lloyd grunted as he stumbled back, holding his swords tight in his grip as he brought his left hand up to rub up against his right shoulder. Taking one more retreating step away from the man as one eye closed in pain.

His shoulder, it flared in pain with every attack that he blocked and he knew the man was aware of his injury since he was saving every single powerful swing for his right side so he would be forced to block the attack. Each attack sent shock waves of impact running up his arm and striking lightning into the nerves of his lingering injury.

"How long can you hold out, Mr. Irving?" came the calm but mocking tone of his opponent. "Did you think that I would not be aware of your" he made a pointing gesture with his sword "condition?" his sword fell once more to his side in a casual manner.

Lloyd grunted once before he found himself leaping forward at the man with his left sword aimed and ready, but the noble did not even move or blink. Lloyd landed before the man while rapidly thrusting his sword at blinding speeds, a determined look on his face as his teeth gritted together.

"Sword Rain!" He grunted out, pulling strength from deep within.

Lloyd breathed out once at his last thrust, he did not feel even one of his blows land or even be deflected. He narrowed his eyes ahead of him, seeing exactly what he suspected come to realization.

The man had avoided the attack completely and was already five paces away from him.

"That was a charming attack." The man lifted his sword so his arm crossed over his chest, as if he were going to swipe in a horizontal fashion. "But charming is what I would call any rainy day. Now you get to experience the fury of a storm." he gave a passive, almost gentle aired smile.

Lloyd lifted both his swords, something inside his body screamed at him to prepare, but he did not know anything of which he was preparing for.

"Sword Storm." The man called out calmly as the runes on the sword gave an intense glow.

The man swung the sword hard, as if there was an invisible force resisting the swipe. But the effect afterwards came to a shock to Lloyd as crescent shaped glowing blades came in flurry towards the young swordsman. Lloyd crossed his swords over his face as he gritted his teeth to tense his jawline while a barrier flashed to life, his Guardian activating to try and repel the attack.

His muscles tensed and burned as the flurry of attacks hit the surface of Guardian and made it ripple and even crack quickly under the impact. Lloyd closed his eyes tightly, Guardian was not going to be lasting for much longer and the flurry was just striking.

Guardian shattered and Lloyd felt his muscles give and his swords were forced to lower. His eyes were not permitted to open cause now they tensed and shut closed as he felt the crescent blades slash through cloth as they swiped away at the surface of his skin. Two even hitting directly int his chest and becoming embedded into his flesh, one crescent impaled itself into his left thigh as he grunted and felt his shoulders slump. He instantly knew he was a bad spot, cause he felt the warmth of fluid slide across his skin underneath his clothes.

He was wounded pretty badly.

Lloyd right eye opened a crack, before they both opened wide in shock as he found Valemeros standing just a pace away from him as his hand reached forward and grabbed a fistful of his red jacket, the only thing Lloyd could do was grunt. His arms were rebelling against him as he attempted to muster the strength to bring his swords up.

"Lightning." He whispered out in an amused tone.

The mans hand flickered once in an energy surge as Lloyd could not believe how helpless he felt at this moment. The lightning consumed his body as he let out a pained grunt, he would not satisfy the man by giving him any screams. The ground trembled as the lightning coursed from his hand into Lloyds body before the energy became too much and Lloyd thought he was going to be forced to feel his muscles tear and explode one at a time.

He felt Valemeros release him as the lightning swirled in the air, causing an explosion that sent Lloyd flying backwards until he crashed against the ground in a groan.

- - - -

"Then he came over to me and that is where you saved me." Lloyd said.

Sheena could not help but feel the tingles go down her spine, the very statement of him confessing that she had saved him gave her a sense of fulfillment. How silly to feel this way at a time like this as she lifted her cheek from her palm and she looked down at the young man with her brown eyes.

"We will need to go to Meltokio." She found herself stating first.

"Meltokio? Why?" Lloyds tense features were broken from that moment as he looked at Sheena with an honest curiosity.

"That man, he was dressed in the same fashion the high nobles of Meltokio wear." Sheena replied.

It took her a few days to remember where she had seen that mans attire before, she knew it was of her planet but she was trying to remember which city it was she say that certain style in. She felt her eyes narrow slightly at Lloyd, maybe if he was not walking around in nothing but bandages and boxers for the passed few days she might have remembered it sooner.

"What will we do when we get there?" Lloyd wondered, he pulled back on one of his gloves.

"We will find our answers behind the slaughter of Luin." Sheena said, she felt her voice become firm...almost cold when she mentioned the crimes that had taken place in that recovering village.

Sheena looked over Lloyds body, as if noting every detail. She also made no effort to hide what she was doing as she shifted her head at a few angles to make sure she was viewing everything that she was needing to.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Lloyd said.

Sheena gave a small smile, he gave that nervous tone that she found adorable in him at times as she met his deep brown eyes once more and gave him a reassuring smile while closing her eyes.

"Just making sure you are recovering, Lloyd."

"Oh." Lloyd said as he lowered his head enough to reach up and rub the back of his head, he was hiding a bashful expression. Sheena knew this as she could not help but let herself give a light giggle.

_His shoulder._ Sheena thought.

"Lloyd?" Sheena started, first getting his attention.

She watched as Lloyd responded by lowering his hand from his head and looked up to her, his eyes were always so brown and full. Whenever she addressed him he always gave her nothing less then his undivided and full attention.

"Lloyd, what happened to your shoulder? Was it...was it me?" she asked, gesturing back to when he had to save her from falling off the rheaird.

"Huh?" he said confused at first before he looked over to his shoulder. "Oh this." he completed, as he slowly released his shoulder in a defeated way.

_He did not really think he was hiding it did he?_ She thought to herself.

"Heh, I guess I haven't been doing too well at hiding it, have I?" he asked, she could swear he was speaking to himself but out loud.

"Then it has been hurting you for awhile hasn't it?" Sheena asked, she could not control the amount of concern she let color her tone as she leaned forward slightly.

Lloyd gave a nod as he looked towards the ground in front of the railing.

"Ever since the fight with..." he hesitated for a moment, like the title had still yet ''' to sink in fully in. "With my dad."

"Kratos?" Sheena asked more out of shock, he had been holding onto that pain, all to himself for over a year and never told her about it.

Lloyd gave a nod.

The purple ninja felt a tug at her heart inside, one side of her wanted to leap down off the railing and comfort the man through his relived ordeal. But another part of her wanted to grab him and shake him a little for keeping that from her. She felt through all their travels and how much trust they had between each other that he should have at least told her about this.

"Why didn't you-" she started, she knew what route her emotions were going to go with this one, a comfortable route. Seems she was going to scold him a little for not trusting her.

"M-m-monsters! Monsters approaching the village!" came a frightened yell from one of the locals.

Sheena felt her senses snap back to life as her eyes went wide while looking in the direction of the alerting yell. Her brown eyes then found themselves back on Lloyd as if asking silently with her eye, but she knew that she did not ever have to ask with him. He would jump without a second thought to protect others and that was one of the many traits she admired about him.

"Let's go Sheena." Lloyd nodded.

Sheena gave a small determined nod as she pushed her hands against the railing so she was ejected from her spot to land on her feet on the ground below without a sound.

"Lloyd...are you..." she started.

"I'll be fine, Sheena. We can't waste any time." he reassured.

That was all that Sheena needed to put her mind at ease as they both ran towards the entrance of the village. Each second passing was another second that a possible villager was being attacked by an monster.

Lloyd was already running forward, ahead of Sheena as she darted forward with agile feet that made almost no sound as she ran after the red swordsman. He would lead the way, and she was content with that. She knew she could run faster then him. His stamina was great on battle but even she believed that her speed and agility were greater then his.

However, if she thought about the past she could agree that near the end of their journeys that perhaps he had even surpassed her own through his relentless training, stubborn determination that always pushed him forward to correct the wrongs of the world. Becoming stronger not just for himself, but so the people who could not fight back could have a hope.

Such a selfish focus that Sheena could not help but admire. Not even a second thought ran through his mind when others suffered around him.

- - - -

They came to the entrance of the village as only two people remained, Sheena could not help but let a tingle crawl up her spine. Why were they here when monsters were reported to be coming towards the village.

"What are you two doing here? You need to get back into the village!" Sheena exclaimed, as she pressed her feet into the ground to stop her momentum. Lloyd did the same.

"Our daughter...she's out there." came the panicked tone of the father.

"She wanted to...pick berries for juice. Please! You have to bring her back! Please!" the mother was on the verge of tears.

"You have to understand...we already lost one child to an attack, we cannot bare-" the man started.

"Don't worry, we'll get her back. Won't we, Sheena?" Lloyd said, that determination marking his voice that inspired Sheena to follow suit as she nodded.

"Then we cannot waste anytime." Sheena replied as she looked to the couple.

Sheena looked to Lloyd again as she gave him one more nod to get him to move forward, he caught on as the both of them ran towards the forested area on the outskirts of the village.

"How do we know where she went?" Lloyd called out to the purple ninja while they ran.

"Her parents would probably never let her too deep into the forest. She has to be somewhere close."

A scream was heard not too far away as Sheena looked in the direction before looking back at Lloyd, his head was turned in the same direction before she felt his brown eyes gaze intently into hers, silently urging her to follow after him.

Like he ever needed to ask.

All he would ever need to do was lead the way and she would be right there with him, she trusted him with everything she had.

They came to a clearing, where a little girl shrank up against a cliff side where three wolves were snarling, drolling over their small meal sample to come before invading the village. Three wolves would have been creatures that the village could handle on their own. What threw Sheena off was the pack of wolves that all darted from the shadows of the bushes, like the wolves were using the little girl as bait.

_Could monsters be this cunning?_ Sheena thought as six wolves came from the bushes, three on either side of them. Making it a total count of nine wolves in the area.

"Sheena, the little girl." Lloyd called out.

Sheena gave a nod as she pulled out a seal, throwing it in the little girls direction. She heard the sound of swords being drawn at her side. She had faith in Lloyd that he would protect her while she focused herself.

She started to motion her hands as she closed her eyes, her senses once more burning to life as she became acutely aware of her surroundings and it was like to her that everything slowed down for that moment as she funneled her energy into the seal floating in front of the little girl.

_Do not remove this seal._ Sheena voiced in her mind, the seal whispering into the little girls mind so she knew that as long as the seal was there, no harm would come to her.

The sound of snarls became loud toned and deep, the shuffling of the dirt under their paws as they prepared to launch themselves into the air, the touch of teeth to teeth as some of the wolves snapped their jaws closed only to open in a snarl to growl again. She could even hear the like rustling fur of the beasts as they prowled around the both of them. She thought panic should wash over her in such a focused state with so much on the line. Her focus would not allow her to defend herself and until she was done, the little girls life was in danger as well. But the other sounds calmed her mind and her body would follow after that.

The sound of Lloyds heartbeat could be heard in her focused state, his every breath and she could even feel the heat from his body radiate against hers even if he was not up against her. The distance he was, with the state she was in allowed her to almost reach out and pull Lloyd to her. The sound of his gloves tightening over the hilts of his swords also gave her comfort that should anything come near her, he would protect her.

He would protect her. That thought washed over her mind for a moment as she felt stronger for it. The young man had such an impact on her as she saw a radiate light spring through her eyes, that was what she was looking for. Reaching for it mentally she pulled it into her hands.

Sheena's eyes burst open the moment she touched the light as her hand gestures completed and she stared forward at the little girl. The seal flashed once and the little girl was gone.

The ears of the three wolves arched upwards, in equal confusion.

"Lloyd." Sheena almost whispered as she stepped back to place herself against him.

"The little girl going to be safe?" he asked, wondering what Sheena did.

"She will be. I put her behind a barrier, as long as she does not remove that seal or walk too far away from it, her location will be hidden to the wolves." Sheena replied, pulling out two more seals as her eyes narrowed at the circling wolves, the three that were stalking the little girl join in prowling circle of the pack.

"How long will the seal last?" Lloyd wondered.

"Long enough." Sheena replied, she wanted to look over her shoulder to make sure Lloyd was alright, but she knew he was focusing himself on their situation now. _At least I think it should last long enough._

Sheena felt her chest heave in and out, she was wondering which wolf was going to take the advance first, her brown eyes following the movements, snarls and snaps of the hungry pack.

She noticed they seemed to be eying Lloyd over her however, it was only when she would shift from one foot to the other or make any other bold movements that eyes would fall on her.

_His wounds. Do they smell the blood on the bandages underneath his clothes? They have to. They probably see him as a wounded prey._ Sheena thought to herself, she felt her muscles tense at the thought of the wolves preying on Lloyd.

Sheena could not recall what happened, the next thing she knew she was lifting a foot up to stomp on the wolves head and then kicking herself off to launch herself skyward, kicking her feet up so she was upside down, spinning around as seals rained down from the sky, exploding on contact with the ground before she twisted in the air to land to a kneel.

Her eyes went to were Lloyd was, he had three wolves dead at his feet as he jumped forward with a double horizontal slash, cleaving through the fourth. She let out a light sigh, since the injuries were not hindering him in the face of these beasts.

Two of the beasts had been brought to the ground in her rain of seals, they were either crippled or dead and all that she knew that mattered was they were not a factor in this game of survival. One wolf caught the corner of her eye as he pounced on top of her. Sheena released the seals she was holding in order to hold the beasts jaws from clamping down on her next. The claws of the beast scratched violently to try and get free from the womans grasp.

She felt the claws break open the skin of her shoulder as its hind legs scratched wildly at her legs, the things head twisting and turning to get itself free. Sheena gritted her teeth as she looked into the blood hungry eyes of the animal, managing to curl her legs up so her knees laid against its stomach. Instinct took over as she kicked her legs up, feeling the weight of the beast ease as it became airborne for just even a moment. With the second of advantage she twisted its head to the side and felt her own body push off the ground. She had now reversed the position as she straddled the wolf, releasing its jaws to press her hand into the creatures throat, keeping it to the ground. Using her free hand she slide her hand into her robe to pull out a Pyre Seal, pressing it against the beasts lower jaw as it started to give a shimmer. Placing her feet to the ground she kicked herself up and landed once more to a kneel as the beast scampered to its legs and growled at her, eying her intently now.

She breathed out once, her body had not yet registered the pain that the beast had inflicted on her body with its claws and she was not looking forward to feeling it later.

The beast bend at the legs, it was going to pounce. Sheena placed both her hands together as her fingers locked together, allowing the seal to brighten before erupting in an explosion of fire.

The beasts dead weight hit the ground before her as she let out a sigh, looking over to Lloyd.

He was already running towards her, but he had an intent look on his face. One that threw Sheena off for a moment. Trying to figure out what that look was.

"Sheena! Watch out!" Lloyd yelled suddenly.

She then looked over her shoulder, just in time to see a wolf that was leaping towards her, paws forward with claws out and fangs bared and ready to sink into any flesh that it can. She pulled a seal out, but she knew that she was going to be just a little too late to be able to use it. Raising her other arm to at least shield her neck.

"Sonic Thrust!"

Sheena felt the breath of the wolf against her forearm as she lowered her arm to see the wolf just inches away from her, a sword impaled in the things chest as the creature whined, whimpered and flailed until dropping to the ground.

She looked up at Lloyd, his sword arm was still straight out in front of him as he breathed heavily, he had used everything he could to run to her aid and come in just when she needed him. She felt herself fall back against his leg as she breathed out once herself.

The sword lowered as it rested against her ninja garb, she felt as the swordsman lowered to a kneel and she felt his gloved hand against her shoulder, closing her eyes she felt relief wash over her body and her head leaned back until it rested against his chest.

"Thank you, Lloyd." she said in almost a whisper.

"Are you alright?" he replied, his tone was whisper like as well. It made a shiver trail down her spine. She was just fighting for survival and so short after fighting, he was able to bring a calm and even pleasant sensation through her body.

"I'm fine." she reassured. _Just don't...move anywhere. Give me this one moment._ She felt her mind speak to her, at least she thought she was only thinking that. But even if she said it, if it kept him there for a moment longer she would deal with the embarrassment later.

"You're bleeding."

"I'll be fine, Lloyd." she insisted.

She knew the pain would be coming no matter what she did and it would leave when she was healed, but this moment was not guaranteed to return anytime soon. She could deal with the flashes of pain for a moment of peace.

"The girl." Lloyd wondered lightly.

Sheena felt her eyes open as she remembered the other reason why they had come out here, she felt a sting against her body as reality came rushing back to her. She wanted to say the little girl will be fine where she is. But she could not do that to the frightened child that was face to face with death.

Pushing aside her selfish desires she clenched her jaw while pushing herself to a upward angle, she was no longer touching Lloyd except for the gloved hand on her shoulder. A sigh escaped her lips at that thought.

"She should be fine." She said.

Sheena found the strength and will to bring herself to her feet as she waved her hand, the seal she had put into place would fade and the girl would be revealed to the naked eye.

Sheena felt her seal break as the air seemed to ripple around the little girl and her form materialized, the trembling form of the child.

She walked over to the child, Lloyd walked right beside and she could even feel his gaze looking over to her. It did make her smile a little knowing that Lloyd was worried about her enough to look over to her to make sure she was alright.

They were just wolf scratches anyways.

The little girl had tucked herself in a little ball against the cliffs edge as she whimpered from her spot, Sheena felt her heart drop a little at such a sight. She felt the need to do whatever she could to make the little girl stop whimpering.

Sheena walked over to the little girl and leaned forward, feeling her hand reaching out, gently placing her hand on the child's head as she seemed to cringe at first.

"You are alright now." Sheena heard Lloyd say in a soft tone behind her.

The little girls eyes opened as she looked over to the young man and woman in front of her. Her eyes were wide and teary, fear that once gripped them vanished in a matter of seconds as her little form escaped the tightened ball she had retreated into and was not holding onto Sheena's leg.

"I wanna go home!" She screamed, the high pitch was almost enough to hurt Sheena's ears as she looked down at the little girl, giving a soft smile. She knelled down to be at face level with the little girl, looking right at her.

"Then let's get you home." Sheena replied.

The little girl released her leg so she could kneel, but was quick to replace her leg with Sheena's neck as she held her close still like the purple ninja was the only thing keeping her from falling into a dark abyss.

"You certainly have a way with children." Lloyd comment, she could hear the playful tone to his voice as she looked over her shoulder to confirm what she saw. The young swordsman was smiling down at her as she held onto the scared child.

"Oh be quiet." Sheena tried to snap at him, but she turned her head back down towards the child and could only give a slight smile.

- - - -

The little girl was being held close by her weeping mother, pent up tears of worry and joy flowed from the womans closed eyes as she smothered her child in her arms. Not that the child seemed to be complaining at all, she was latching herself to her mother as well.

"Thank you...both of you." The father remarked, letting his wife and child be together. He stepped forward to address the two.

"I am just glad she is safe." Lloyd gave a smile, he then looked over to Sheena. Her eyes looked back to him, he was worried for her still.

Sheena raised a hand and gave him her best smile to put the young man at peace. She was happy to see that it worked as Lloyd turned to look back to the man.

Sheena looked down at her body, cloth at her thigh was torn, blood seemed to seep into the fabric, a small dark trail leading down her leg. Other tears from the wolves hind legs were located at her shins above her boots. She looked over to her shoulder, seeing the scratch that went under her ninja garb, the paw seemed to have slide under and then scratched from the top of her shoulder to just below her collar bone.

_That one is going to hurt later._ Sheena thought to herself, biting her lip.

"What is this for?" Sheena suddenly heard Lloyd ask, her attention snapped from her self inspection to look over in Lloyds direction.

"For our daughter...please accept this." the man replied.

Sheena was trying to see what the man had placed into Lloyd's hand. But all she could see was the man remove his hand from Lloyd's and Lloyd's head tilt downwards to look at the object in his hand. It must be small, she could not see anything.

"It has been passed down through our family for generations." The man added.

"I cannot take it from you." Lloyd replied.

"No please...you have done so much...you saved our little girl." the man turned to look at his wife and child, giving a gentle smile and looking back to Lloyd. "This is the least we can do."

"Well..." Lloyd hesitated, looking at the object.

"It would be an insult if you didn't take it." he insisted.

Lloyd gave that look of defeat for a moment, before nodding his head and closing his hand over the object. Sheena could not help but smile a little inside, only Lloyd would help someone in need and not even ask for anything in return, or even when they offered to reward him he seemed to feel uneasy about accepting it.

It was cute they had to basically twist his arm to accept the gift.

Sheena walked up to stand beside him, trying to look over his shoulder. But the young man had already closed his hand over the object as he looked in front of him at the man.

"Thank you both again." the man bowed his head, then looked over to Sheena. "Are you alright?" he asked, he seemed genially worried.

Sheena looked to the man for a moment, her mind went blank as if she did not know what he was asking about or even remembering what happened to her. Lloyd's head turned to look at her as well, that did not make things any better as she swallowed once and felt like she was being surrounded or something.

"I-I'll be fine. Quit staring at me." Sheena said, folding her arms as she closed her eyes and look away from the two. As if she was irritated with them but really she was hiding the heated blush that was coming to her face from the sudden focus on her.

She didn't know how, but she felt Lloyds gaze still on her. But she also felt a smile coming from him as well and that was doing its job at only making her cheek flush more. She knew it was a good thing that she had turned her face away from the two.

- - - -

Sheena sat silently on the stool as she bit her lip looking down at the wounds on her legs, those would have to get cleaned very soon before she risked becoming feverish. This is another time she missed having Raine around, dispute the fact that they both had serious trust issues at times. She was still great to have around to stay on healing.

She felt warmth touch her shoulder as she shifted a little suddenly and looked over her shoulder with wide eyes, but was almost instantly calmed when she saw it was Lloyd. He was not wearing his gloves, his fingertips were touching against her shoulder, slowly pushing the cloth away.

_Breath Sheena, breath. But...his hands...so warm. _She felt her heart throb as she felt the cloth being pushed away, her lungs forgot how to function as she could only stare up at him.

"We are going to have to clean this, Sheena. You cannot leave them like this." he said it in such a soft voice, she could not fight him on this. She normally would feel the urge to convince him to go away and let her take care of it herself.

But she felt a pull inside that perhaps she wanted Lloyd to take care of her....this time anyways. She convinced herself it would only be for this time.

The surprised ninja managed to give him a small nod before she felt her breath come out as one of his hands cupped on her shoulder, just beside the claw wound.

_Good...breathing...good first step...good recovery._ Sheena managed to think through the cloud of her mind.

"This may sting a little, Sheena." Lloyd reassured.

Speaking to her in that tone, Sheena was convinced that the man could place lemon juice against her wound and she probably would not feel a thing with how he reassured.

She answered him once more with another silent nod.

_Ok Sheena...words...words are always good. So start using them. _She tried scolding herself for being so dumbstruck.

She stared right at Lloyd, but his brown eyes had left hers to look at her wound on her shoulder. He was focused and that for some reason sent a shiver through her spine. The shiver was replaced with a sudden stinging wave that eased as quickly as it had come. Lloyd was just placing the on the healing salve that would treat the wound, inspire quick recovery as well as ward off any infections.

The man then looked back over to her, their brown eyes locked once more as Sheena felt a touch of heat warm her face.

_No...not now...Don't let him see me blush. _She was trying to will herself to turn her head away from him, to protect herself from being seen. But he had trapped her in his gaze and she was not going to be able to pull away from them.

Such a gentle mannered and natured young swordsman had such a possessive and powerful gaze that made Sheena surrender her will over to him. But she was glad, if anyone could ever have that fearful power over her, it was someone like Lloyd. Someone who would never intentionally harm and would...protect her.

His gentle fingers brushed over her wound, from the top of her shoulder slowly down to just below her collar bone the fingers traveled as he rubbed tenderly.

Maybe if she ran out and fell down the cliff side, he would tend to her more. That was a thought that went through her mind but she thankfully had the power to stop herself and she knew Lloyd would be worried about her. It was not worth it if that is what it would do to him. A selfish wish anyways.

Lloyd gave her a small warming smile, probably due to the blush that was now hewing her cheeks. That is what she could guess, but she did not care. He was smiling at her.

"That should do it. It is a good thing we got to in time." Lloyd almost whispered.

"O...oh?" Sheena managed to utter.

"Yes, your skin is starting to go red. Maybe if we can tend to it in time, we can stop the fever." Lloyd remarked, slowly removing his hands from her shoulder.

"....My...fever?" Sheena thought, she felt her eyes narrow slightly.

_The man doesn't even know a blush when he sees one._ Sheena thought to herself as she felt herself snap out of her daze.

"Yes, but your legs are also going to need this salve." Lloyd remarked.

Sheena felt a combination of frustration and relief hit her at once, on one hand he did not see her blush at him...yet on the other hand he did not see her blush at him. It was an interesting feeling to wash over her. But she had also gotten used to it in one way over the time they had traveled together.

"I can do that, Lloyd." Sheena stated, her voice calm as she extended her hand.

Lloyd gave her a small smile as he placed the jar of salve in her hand and nodded, how could she stay irritated at the man if he kept giving her such meaningful smiles.

Sheena placed the jar on her lap as she looked down at it, she slide her thumb out of the cloth of her garb and rolled the material up so her hands were exposed. It was going to be painful to place the salve on her wounds without Lloyds eyes to look into, his voice to calm her and his smile to wash away any lingering stinging sensation.

But she would manage.

Lloyd suddenly grabbed her right hand gently as Sheena froze once more, the young swordsman was on his knees to her her side as he pulled her hand towards him.

"L-Lloyd?" Sheena stuttered.

Lloyd slide his hand gentle over the back of her hand, making her nerves tingle and flare back up under a searing fire once more as she was reintroduced to the feeling of seized lungs. The man then seemed to slide something over her finger as she lowered her head slowly to look down at her hand.

It was a ring. A golden ring that had a green emerald with an oval shape that resembled a cats eye. Black gem stones were embedded on both sides of the oval gemstone.

Sheena's heart thumped hard in her chest, she could swear it almost ripped through her rib cage. But the sudden thump allowed her lungs to remember to breath as she let out a soft sigh.

"L...Lloyd? What is this for?" she asked softly.

"This is what we were given, I think you should have it." he said in that same soft whisper, her ability to argue against him was robbed as her mouth dried.

"I...can't..." she started.

"I insist." Lloyd smiled, looking down at the ring as he ran a finger over the gemstone. "It looks nice on you."

Sheena was struck speechless, her blush returned with reinforcements as the tingles claimed every inch of her form. She was glad she was sitting, her knees would have give cause her muscles had decided to take a small vacation and her bones turned to jelly.

Lloyd leaned in close, looking intently at her face as she felt her blush heighten and her breathing become heavier, heated and even waiting.

"Sheena..." he whispered.

"Yes...Lloyd?" she managed to reply, he leaned in a little closer as Sheena felt her eyes close and she leaned forward slowly.

"We need to get you some rest, the fever looks like it is getting worse."

Sheena's eyes blinked opened as Lloyd was no longer there, she felt her heart drop for a moment. Looking to the side, Lloyd slipped an arm around her and brought her near limp form to a stand, guiding her towards the bed to relax and lie down. The jar of salve in his other arm.

Sheena let out a deep sigh.


	8. A stolen heart, lost spirits

Chapter Eight

Lloyd walked over to the window of the room which they stayed in the past few days to recover themselves. He knew it was times like this he did miss the Professors healing arts, but she was not here with them. Her and Genis were back home continuing their own lives while Sheena and himself continued their own journey that did not look to end anytime soon.

Looking over his shoulder, he looked over to the sleeping form of Sheena and gave a small smile. He knew if it had not been for her, that he might have become disheartened after being on his personal crusade for so long. But she made it bearable and she pushed him forward, she gave him the strength he did not know he had.

"Valemeros." Lloyd whispered to himself as he looked back out to the night skies.

That man had a strength of his own as well, some elven noble that came from Meltokio. He wondered how the noble managed to keep himself hidden for so long. Half Elves were branded as slaves and still were to this day, a conflict between the two combined worlds that caused some tension and the full blooded elves kept to themselves. Yet this man became a noble and managed to hide his heritage pretty well, Lloyd figured it would take more then just hiding his ears behind his long purple hair to conceal himself and what he was.

After all, the guards figured out Raine and Genis were half blooded elves by scanning them with some form of device, he was sure Valemeros could not hide himself from such a device.

"What are you doing still up?"

Lloyd stirred a little and looked over his shoulder, seeing Sheena was up on her feet, standing behind him.

"Oh, Sheena. I was just...I'm fine." Lloyd thought to himself.

"Come on, Lloyd. I think I know you well enough by now to know that something is bothering you. It has been since we came here." Sheena replied.

"Heh...I guess I cannot hide anything from you, can I Sheena?"

"Nope, so you might as well always come clean." she said that with an added cheer to her tone, somehow it managed to bring a smile to Lloyd's face.

"Well..." Lloyd started, looking back to the window as he leaned against the window ledge. "It's Valemeros." Lloyd confessed.

"I figured that is what would be on your mind." Sheena gave a nod as she walked closer to Lloyd, closing the distance.

"It's just...why did he slaughter all those innocent lives? What was the point to it all?" Lloyd wondered, his jawbones tensing.

"Who knows?" Sheena added. "But that is an answer we can find out when we find that creep and while we are at it, avenge all those he had made suffer."

"You slaughtered the whole village. Why?"

"Why?...Why this was all...for you..."

Lloyd felt his jawbones tense even more as that memory came flooding back into his head, the man claimed he slaughtered the entire village for him. All those lives were lost just so the man could gain his attention.

Those people died cause of him.

Lloyd felt his head lower as he tried to let out a calming breath. His eyes shut tight, he could swear that he felt tears threaten the edges of his eyes. Tears of anger, his growing frustration and some of them were of impending sorrow for the lives lost.

"Lloyd?" Sheena wondered.

"Just thinking about Luin." Lloyd covered, he did not want to burden Sheena with what Valemeros had told him about the slaughter. It would be something he would confront on his own.

Lloyd felt slender fingers rest themselves on his shoulder blades as Sheena leaned forward and rested her cheek against his back, her fingers lightly scratching the surface of his jacket.

"There was nothing we could have done for them, Lloyd. But there is one thing we can do for them and do for the rest of the world. Bring an end to Valemeros and make sure what he did to Luin never happens to anyone else ever again." she whispered.

The red swordsman kept his eyes closed as he gave one silent nod.

Sheena's comforting gesture did not go unnoticed as Lloyd felt himself ease down, maybe if Sheena could stay there just for another moment, Lloyd could free himself from that memory that was now haunting him.

Those villagers died cause of him.

Wind whirled around on the outside of the window, hitting against the glass surface that caused a few light thumps, causing Lloyds eyes to open.

His brown eyes darted wide open as he felt every muscle tense in an instant.

"He's here!" Lloyd blared out, feeling Sheena's form against his back stir suddenly.

Lloyd stared down at the female mage below, the design spell caster. She gave the swordsman a small, almost cute wave and brought her fingertips to her lips and blew him a kiss before turning around to run off.

Turning on his heel, he ran to the side of the room to the chair where his swords leaned against. Not giving Sheena much time to get anything out, she was only given enough time to say one thing.

"Lloyd! Wait!" Sheena pleaded.

Lloyd grabbed his sword belt as he ran out the door, pushing it open with slamming force as he jumped over the railing of the house and landed on the dirt below, turning to look where the woman was. She stood at the bottom of the pathway leading up to the top of the village. When she knew that Lloyd noticed her there, she turned once more and ran up the pathway.

Sliding the swords into their respective spots at his sides he narrowed his eyes and felt his teeth grind together for a moment. He wanted more answers and once more he felt the burning blood of revenge that he desired.

He ran after the woman, hearing light pattering footsteps behind him as they gradually gained up on him, but he knew whose footsteps those belonged to. Sheena was not far behind him, she was quick and agile and he always knew that and that out running her was not an easy task.

They both ran up the pathway, until coming to the top and sure enough they met with the enemy there, standing in the middle of the opening. There was no hiding and seemed to be no deceptions, which means Valemeros and his two henchmen purposely came here to track them down and confront them both.

"Valemeros!" Lloyd yelled.

Wind picked up, blowing the nobles purple hair to the side, but still not exposing his elven ears to prove to them both that he was of elven blood. Not that that was in question, only those with elven blood had the ability to cast magic. The woman walked calmly to stand beside the man as she placed her staff against her shoulder, leaning closer towards the noble as the male leaned forward and rested his weight on the blades wide tip as it rested against the ground with both hands resting on the hilt, placing all his weight on the blade. Valemeros had his hands placed behind his back as he stared at the two of them with a sly smirk across his face. His noble and majestic robes rippled in the force of the wind, this time wearing black robes that had shimmering royal purple embroidery with golden stitched designs that traced along the surface of the black robe, almost runic in nature.

"Mr. Irving...What a pleasure it is to see you up and about." The man spoke in volume to overcome the howling wind. But somehow the man's raised voice seem to maintain his usual calm and controlled tone.

"You bastard." Lloyd heard Sheena hiss.

"Such a colorful tongue the lovely lady has. I can see that hanging around common rabble like yourself has tainted the beauty her words could produce." he mocked.

"The only one tainted here is you." Lloyd growled, pulling free both his katana like long swords, swiping gracefully in the air to point his right sword at the noble.

"Tsk tsk, and here I thought we could sit down and have a little chat, Mr. Irving." the noble smirked still.

"I have nothing I want to say to the likes of you." Lloyd stated firmly. "I do not care what you want of me, I won't listen to your words."

Valemeros gave a sudden laughter.

"What's so funny?" Sheena snapped, pulling out some seals from the inside of her purple ninja tunic.

"My my, Mr. Irving. What makes you think that it is you that I wish to have a discussion with, Mr. Irving?" Valemeros taunted.

"What? Then if not with me...then who..." Lloyd thought for a moment before looking over his shoulder to look to Sheena, then his head snapped back. "You will not get anywhere near her. Not before I cut you down." Lloyd barked with an actual cold and harshness to his tone.

"Have I hit a nerve, Mr. Irving?"

"Whatever it is you want from her, you'll have to go through me first." Lloyd replied.

"Hmhmhm, I counted on that." Valemeros said, his tone suddenly dark and cryptic.

Valemeros lifted his right hand from behind his back, spreading his fingers out wide as both Cecil and Monique seemed to take their respective stances. Cecil pushed himself off the blade and pulled the sword from the ground with his right hand to rest it against his shoulder, Monique slide the staff from her shoulder and held it with both hands in front of her, as if ready to block an attack. Valemeros then dropped his hand and the both of them charged forward.

Lloyd lowered his right sword and dashed towards Cecil, knowing Sheena would cover him and take on the woman known as Monique. The distance closed quickly between the sword fighters as the wind seemed to pick up to almost a booming howl.

Steel clashed against steel as Lloyd leaned into the weapon lock against Cecil. The steel scrapped roughly as Lloyd's eyes stared right into the steel visor of his Desian helmet. Lloyd lifted his left sword and swung down at the man despite their close range to each other in sword lock, Cecil gave up strength in his lock as he raised his forearm to hit into the hilt of the sword as he grunted at the blow, but being hit by the handle was certainly the lesser of the two evils of Lloyds attack.

Lloyd could feel the flow of mana start to sate the air as mana was being called upon to concentrate into a magic attack, it was not coming from the direction of the noble however. Monique was the one focusing a spell, Lloyd felt his senses become aware, instincts spiked at him that something was amiss.

Mana formulated into spheres of light that surrounded the two dueling swordsman, Lloyd gave a grunt of realization as he knew seconds were all he had left and Cecil seemed intent to keep him in lock, sacrificing himself to make sure the attack consumed Lloyd. Sliding the blade that Cecil blocked with his forearm, Lloyd snapped it free and scissored the Desian's sword before forcing the sword to the side, exposing both their bodies, but Lloyd had another thing in mind as he pushed off on foot, blue energy consuming Lloyd as his slammed hard into Cecil. The energy crackled and blazed out as the energy snapped the air, causing it to making a loud booming sound that resembled a mighty beast as the head of a lion blazed out. But the energy did not seem to hit as hard as his previous attacks as Cecil staggered back in a daze. Lloyd pushed himself off the ground and became airborne with an acrobatic flip before thrusting his down down to stab into the ground as the ground itself rippled and tore apart with enough force to send Cecil right to the dirt as he yelped. Hunting Beast as found its mark when Lloyd managed to get the man to expose himself and open him for an attack. The light spheres grew in size before they hurled through the air, closing the space that the energy surrounded as Lloyd narrowed his eyes, while in a kneel he jumped once more into the air in a back flip as he evaded the attack from Monique. Cecil pushed himself up to a kneel as he tried to recover quickly from the attack.

"Dammit!" Cecil cussed as he realized his predicament has turned on him and he could do nothing more then try and lift his sword up in a futile effort to block the magical barrage.

Lloyd turned his head to fact the mage. However Sheena had already closed the distance as Lloyd watched her figure become airborne as well as she kicked twice in session that hit the mages staff and knocked the woman off balance.

Lloyd would not allow himself to become fascinated by Sheena's agile movements right now, his attention was brought to his forefront as the wind quickly collected the dust to reveal Cecil on all fours on the ground.

"I cannot hesitate." Lloyd reminded himself, apart of him wanted the man to realize that he was defeated so maybe his life could be spared. But he knew that as long as Valemeros was standing there that the man would not give up. Lloyd forced himself to push the idea out of his mind that Cecil would surrender.

Lloyd dashed straight for Cecil as he placed one sword in front of himself and one behind him in preparation for a follow up attack on the weakened Desian.

Cecil pushed himself up to his feet, one foot staggered to regain its footing on the ground as he seemed to have difficulty keeping himself planted to the ground. His sword raised back in a defensive stance as he gritted his teeth and seemed to hold a misplaced determined to hold his ground against Lloyd that managed to already weaken his fighting resolve.

The steel of Lloyds blades started to give off a blue shimmer, as if the wind that the blades were cutting through while dashing was feeding an invisible fire that was on Lloyds blades and the energy only seemed to become stronger as Lloyd tensed his grip on both hilts. Lloyd raised both swords from their positions to the left side of his body, his right arm crossing over his chest as if preparing for a double slash.

"Psi Tempest!"

Lloyd's blades came to life in a blue glow as he let himself be taken over by instinct at that moment as his feet left the ground, both arms swinging before he even came close to Cecil to create the momentum he needed to spin in the air as he became nothing but a blur through the night skies, highlighted by the movement of the glowing swords as the ground tore from under the force.

The speed did not allow Cecil the comfort of dodging out of the way of the attack as he lifted his sword in a last ditch to defend himself as Lloyd's blades clashed against the Desian's weapon, the first hit knocking the blade to the ground as Cecil's eyes grew wide, feeling his right foot buckle as he tried to duck out of the way of the next spin. But all that did was stop the attack from slicing through his helmet as the blade slashed the mans shoulder and blood instantly spilled in the air as Cecil's mouth opened in attempt to scream, but no words came out as he felt the steel tear through his shoulder and send him to the ground as his other hand came up in attempt to hold the bleeding wound closed.

Cecil was only half of Lloyd's target as the Psi Tempest continued its pathway through the air and Lloyd's real target came into view as he hurled through the air towards the well dressed elven noble. Even as the attack came close, the elven man kept a calm and collected expression as a small smile curled up his lips and he lifted his arm into the air as energy collected into the air and in the blink of an eye, the nobles runic sword materialized as he put one leg in front of him and seemed to casually brace himself for the Psi Tempest.

Steel met steel in a deafening clash as Lloyd was sent into a state of shock as he felt all his momentum come to an instant stop, and it was as if time had now frozen for Lloyd as he looked down at Valemeros and he could see the smirk still present on his face as he made the block seem almost effortless.

'H-How?' Lloyd thought as his eyes stayed wide and his mouth gaped open.

Valemeros narrowed his eyes in a sinister way, keeping the arrogant expression on his face as the sword he held gave off a faint glow. Swinging the sword hard, Lloyds sword was pushed away as energy in the form of a crescent shot out as if the very air itself was transformed into energy from the motion of his swing and turned against him. The energy slammed into Lloyd's chest as he felt the cloth tear under the energy and Lloyd could swear to himself in that quick instant he could taste copper in the air, pain flushed his chest as he was sent to crash to the ground.

"Lloyd!" he heard a familiar scream as he groaned and pushed himself up to a crouch, keeping his grip on his swords as he pressed a balled up hand to his chest but kept his eyes on Valemeros as the elven lord looked down at Lloyd with that same smirk still.

Glancing down at his glove he confirmed his suspicion as the red substance stood out from the red of his gloves. Looking back to Valemeros he felt a determination burn up inside his chest.

He wasn't just fighting for himself in this battle, Valemeros wanted something with Sheena and Lloyd was not going to risk her to the likes of this man. He would not get his hands on Sheena, not as long as he was allowed to breath.

Lloyd pressed his teeth together hard as he pushed off the ground and charged at Valemeros. The noble stood there patiently as if welcoming the assault. Lloyd slashed down hard, hitting the blade and then swinging to the nobles side as Valemeros pushed the sword off to quickly block the other attack that threatened his other side. But Lloyd was not going to let that dishearten him as he lashed out with a flurry of slashes and stabs, being sure to jump to the side or even follow through with his swords momentum as to risk exposing himself to a counter attack from Valemeros. One stab from Lloyd was sidestepped as Lloyd went through with the stab and stepped forward, swinging his other sword while passing through as he heard steel meet steel, it was not so much an attack as forcing the noble to block so he could not take advantage of his exposed back, twisting on his heel to swing at head level with the sword he tried stabbing with. The block came as Valemeros pressed his own sword into the attack, Lloyd fought back as they entered a sword lock.

"Oooh...and where are you finding this strength, Mr. Irving?" Valemeros mocked as the swords scrapped together.

Lloyd did not comment as he only narrowed his eyes in focus, he could almost feel the wind hitting his body at a slow rate. Time was slowing down for him, or at least that is what it felt like. He knew what this was, he had this happen in desperate situations where it almost gave Lloyd a predictive edge and fast reflexes.

Lloyd stepped forward and pushed hard with the sword, sudden surprise filled the eyes of Valemeros as his sword was actually pushed to the side and Lloyd used this moment to stab at his exposed body.

Valemeros managed to step to the side as the blade sliced through the cloth of the nobles attire, but no blood filled the air. Lloyd was not going to let that detour him as he ducked back, reclaiming both his weapons. But it did allow Valemeros some recovery time as he gained control of his blade again as he brought his sword back down but seemed to actually take a more serious stance. Lloyd bent one knee as he jumped into the air, slashing upwards as if he were giving an uppercut with a sword, the blades clashed once more but this time Valemeros was actually sent up into the air with the amount of force that was put behind the Tiger Blade as the sword of Valemeros was sent above his head once more from impact and he knew he was prone in the air. Lloyd took advantage of that with a follow up slash down, Valemeros managed to gain control of the sword to block the attack once more. The force of the downward slash however with him prone in the air was too much as it sent the noble crashing to the ground on his back, a gasp ripped from his chest as he felt the air pushed out of his lungs. Lloyd landed to the ground, he did not know if he would ever get another opening like this again. Stabbing his swords into the ground as blue energy filled the blades and both swords shot the energy into the ground as they ripped through the ground towards the recovering noble. The Double Demon fang continued to tear through the dirt as it closed the distance to the noble.

Lloyd grunted once in shock as Valemeros somehow got to his feet quickly and his sword sliced through the gathered energy, causing it to fade back into mana.

"My my, she must really mean something to you, Mr. Irving." Valemeros remarked a smirk seemed to make its way back onto his face.

Lloyd glanced over to where Sheena was, Monique had managed to lure Sheena to the far end near the cliff side, energy shot from her staff but Sheena held her own as she dodged the attacks, throwing seals in counter. Lloyd's eyes met back with Valemeros as they narrowed in determination.

Taking to the charge, Lloyd advanced with rapid sessions of slashes. But they all seemed to bounce off the surface of the nobles sword as he swiftly blocked the oncoming attack. It seemed that Valemeros had had enough of holding back on Lloyd as well. But Lloyd's attacks were relentless as he pushed himself harder and harder, every time Lloyd's sword bounced off the surface of his, Lloyd was quick to follow up with another stab or slash from the sword in his other hand. Lloyd braced himself as Valemeros forced a weapon lock, to Lloyd's surprise the man pushed his sword away and pushed forward, the hilt of his sword slamming into Lloyd's shoulder as he felt a sudden sharp pain fill his body, like his nerves melted on impact. Valemeros knew of Lloyd's injury and it seemed he was ready to use it against him, Lloyd had to figure a way to protect his shoulder. His muscles threatened to betray him from that one sharp slam of hilt burying into the sensitive tissue. Lloyd stepped back as one eye closed, the smirk on the noble's face was all the proof he knew that he was like a shark, and blood was now detected in the water.

Lloyd could not help it, his body betrayed him as he shifted his shoulder as if that would ease the pain that was now forking through his body.

Valemeros was now the one to advance as he stepped in close but did not swing, it was Lloyd that swung in defense, Valemeros blocked the swipe while countering with surprisingly agility that the man never used previously as he spun around and kicked Lloyd in the shoulder, hard enough to push Lloyd to the side. His shoulder paralyzed for a moment once more as the muscles pushed together from the force and he felt the pain explode from his shoulder once more. His fingers grew numb as his arm tingled, his bodies last defense to try and stop the pain was shutting down and Lloyd could not let that happen.

Lloyd stepped back for a moment, one eye still closed as he focused to tighten his grip on his sword, the numbness in his fingers made him uncertain if he was still holding his sword.

"Lloyd!" Came the exclamation from behind Valemeros as Lloyd looked over his shoulder.

Sheena was running towards them both, a seal between her index and middle finger as she had her eyes locked right on Valemeros.

Monique was left with her back slumped against a boulder with her head lowered, she was not moving so Lloyd quickly assumed that Sheena was able to dispose of her.

Valemeros looked over his shoulder for a moment and Lloyd saw an opening right then and there as well as a spike of fear bury itself in his heart at the thought that Sheena was coming towards him and she was still holding wounds from the previous battle against the wolves. Instinct took over again as Lloyd ran forward to gain his attention, slashing with his left sword. Valemeros snapped his gaze back to Lloyd as he lifted his sword to clash once more against Lloyd's sword. Pushing his shoulder to it's limit, Lloyd grunted in pain as he forced himself to swing with what strength he could muster. Valemeros grabbed Lloyd by the forearm as they remained in close distance, steel scrapping together while Lloyd's muscles trembled under the grip from the elven noble. Valemeros tensed his fingers around Lloyd's forearm before pulled on his arm and actually making Lloyd turn, before he could collect himself, Valemeros had slammed the blunt side of his sword into Lloyd's wounded shoulder once more as Lloyd felt his knees buckle under the unbearable pain.

"Valemeros!" Lloyd heard Sheena yell.

Lloyd fell to his knees as the grip on his right sword finally gave, his eyes closed tight for a moment before forcing them open cause he knew Sheena was closing in on the noble and his worry for her managed to surpass the pain, but not enough to be able to recover enough to push himself to his feet. His head turned to see Valemeros turn around to meet with Sheena as she slammed her palm into the mans chest, the seal getting stuck to the robes surface.

What Lloyd was forced to see next left him in horrid silence as Valemeros pushed his own hand into Sheena's chest, but the only difference was Lloyd watched as Valemeros' hand impaled Sheena, as if pushing through to her heart. Sheena was left paralyzed as her body trembled in shock.

"Sh....Sheena!" Lloyd screamed in dismay.

Valemeros stepped to the side, stepping passed Sheena as his hand ripped through her body and he continued to walk on. Lloyd was filled with a new pain, a new agony as his eyes burned and he even forgot to get to his feet, crawling slowly towards Sheena with one hand extended towards her, his right arm limp at his side. Sheena fell to her knees, a look of horror still written on her face as she continued to tremble.

Lloyd closed the distance as he slide his left arm behind Sheena and she seemed to fall into him as she blinked herself back slowly, but her face had become gravely pale.

There was no blood on her chest, not even any entry wound from his hand impaling itself into her chest over her heart. But that did not still Lloyds racing heart as he held her to him.

"L-Lloyd?" Sheena trembled as she looked up into his brown eyes, Lloyd fought back tears of distress as he watched her. "Something....something doesn't feel...right..." her voice trembled.

"Shh, shh." Lloyd tried to calm her as he swallowed hard. "Everything is alright Sheena."

Lloyd's eyes narrowed in anger and rage as his head snapped up to look at Valemeros.

"What did you do!" he demanded.

Lloyd's eyes widened as he saw what Valemeros was holding, glowing orbs of what seemed to be concentrated mana and they were all of different colors the size of marbles. Lloyd knew instantly, he felt it in his heart and the aura the orbs gave off was too familiar to him.

Valemeros had just stolen Sheena's Summon Spirits.

The noble weaved his fingers along the floating orbs as if he were playing with strings, a sly smirk plastered on his face as his dark purple eyes went from the glowing orbs to the duo. Without so much as a word, Valemeros turned around and walked away, when walking passed the two fallen comrades of his, a faint glow seemed to cover their bodies as they both managed to push themselves back to their feet and they all made their exit.

"Lloyd...I feel cold..." Sheena whimpered.

That tone broke his heart into pieces, he had never heard Sheena whimper before and to hear her now made him feel like he was powerless to protect her, tears welled up in his eyes as he looked down to Sheena with a lump in his throat he forced out a reply.

"I'm here, Sheena..." he whispered barely.

Sheena curled up against him, shivering still as her skin remained pale as her frightened eyes locked onto Lloyds. Of course she was scared, cold and lost.

Valemeros had just stolen a piece of her.

"I won't leave you Sheena...ever." Lloyd whispered softly, tears falling from his eyes as he felt his body flinch, forcing his right hand to come up and stroke her cheek gently.

"Some...thing is wrong..." Sheena uttered, she did not realize yet what Valemeros had taken.

Lloyd could only close his eyes, leaning forward to place his forehead against hers as he pulled her up to him, as if trying to protect her from everything that had just happened to her. But in actuality he had accepted the fact of what he had done.

He failed her.

He failed Sheena.

He let the tears drop as he was left alone to wonder how he could ever forgive himself.

He stayed there as Sheena continued to tremble in his arms, against his body.

"Sheena....I'm sorry..."


	9. The Spirit with green eyes

Chapter 9

Note: Had to repost the chapter, accidentally changed Monique's name to Monica. I blame watching Friends while writing. I also forgot to separate the sections in scene changes which I know confuses some readers.

-**Scene change**-

Cecil gave a gasp as it was quickly followed by rough and husky coughs, curling up to the side as he tried to regain himself.

"He shall be fine." Valemeros casually commented.

Monique heaved a sigh as she nodded once, folding her hands in front of her as she smiled over to Valemeros in her usual sultry manner.

"Is there anything you cannot do, my Lord?" She purred.

Valemeros glanced over to Monique as he gave a casual scoff and turned on his heel to leave the room, his own chambers are where Monique could only presume he was heading to.

Her eyes followed the man as he left the room and then waited until the door closed before her eyes went down to her now recovering comrade.

"It would seem, we have underestimated our foes, Cecil." Monique sighed as she watched the man press a hand to his chest and start to regain his breath. "Oh get up!" She almost hissed as she picked up the staff that she leaned against her right shoulder and rammed the end into her comrades shoulder as he rocked violently on the sofa.

Cecil almost ripped his helmet off as if it was the cause of his breathing issues and he shot up to a sitting position and almost glared up to Monique for the little but of 'rough love' he was given by her, rubbing his shoulder.

"Could you be any colder? Cecil snapped.

"Try me, baby." she gave him a playful wink. "Just try me."

She turned around gracefully while placing the staff back on her shoulder and walked out of the room as well. Leaving the recovering swordsman to himself.

"Feh, She can be such a bitch sometimes." His eyes looked over to the side at the burning fire.

Monique walked down the hallway after Valemeros as she just saw him turn to open the door to the balcony. Stopping for a moment she placed her Desian helmet on a wooden backless bench in the hallway, giving the helmet a light pat as she leaned her staff against the wall. Lightly tugging at her Desian uniform she hoped that it did not look too Desian, she always thought it was more the helmet that seemed to give it away anyway.

-**Scene Change**-

Sheena cracked her eyes open as she heard a door swing, it was a dark room that she was being guided into. She felt Lloyd's arm around her waist as he held her close to his side, her head was hung down as she looked over to Lloyd. His right arm was over his stomach, showing it was injured.

His weakened shoulder, it must have taken a beating in the battle against Valemeros.

Her eyes closed again as she felt a grip of despair tighten around her heart. She had never felt this way before, it was like someone reached into her very soul and ripped a part of it out. A consuming essence in her body felt like a black hole, starting from the point of origin in her chest.

She felt cold. That was all that she could focus on now, that her body was growing cold and the only thing that she could feel was the warm arm around her waist and the right side of her body that was held up against Lloyd's left side. He was the only warmth she could fell, it was like feeling a fire up against the ice that she was slowly becoming.

She was suddenly robbed of his fire, and she gave a shudder of both a devouring chill and deep fear of what she has lost. The soft bed now rested beneath her as she let out a heaving sigh, her eyes refused to open, no matter how much she wanted to open them and look upon Lloyd. In her trying times she knew she could depend on him to bring her a form of ease.

She felt exhausted, drained and depleted from energy. All she could do was lay down on the bed and close her eyes, her mind wanted to will herself to open her eyes to look into the brown eyes of Lloyd. But the exhaustion actually stopped her from being able to do what she wanted. It seemed the draining feeling of losing her summoned spirits took a toll on her body, more then she could have ever thought it would. Worse then when she became a walking Mana Cannon.

Sheena could only fall prey to the exhaustion that was forced into her body and fell into an unconscious dreamless rest.

-**Scene Change**-

"Lord Valemeros." Monique addressed.

Valemeros glanced over his shoulder, both his hands rested on the ledge of the balcony. He gave an arch of an eyebrow as if silently asking her what it was she wished to discuss with him. Looking forward again as he leaned against the balcony railing.

"Monique. Something troubling you?" He wondered.

Monique shook her head slightly and gave a small smile. One of the most innocent smiles she was capable of and actually being sincere about it.

"No, my lord. Nothing is troubling me." She thought as she looked to the side.

"But?" Valemeros asked, giving a knowing smirk.

"No but."

"Alright, then how about a however?" came the sarcastic reply.

"None of that." Monique assured.

"If it is none of that, then what is this?" He asked casually, arching an eyebrow.

"Spending time with the Lord?" She asked in almost an innocent tone.

Valemeros blinked once at the woman as he breathed out once through his nose in an amused manner as he looked forward to the outskirts of Meltokio. "Come then, I can tell you about what we shall be doing next."

Monique gave a small smile as she put a little extra bounce in her step to walk up beside Lord Valemeros, leaning forward to place her elbows on the railing as she planted her chin into the palms of her hands and looked up to him intently.

"First, we shall need to taken a visit to the frozen regions." Valemeros started.

-**Scene Change**-

Sheena woke when the first ray of light hit her eyelids, forcing them to open as she felt her senses slowly come back to life. But she still felt a deep sadness that could not be explained stir and swell deep inside her. It was like everything she ever held close was lost, such sorrow felt too strong to try and bear.

"Sheena?"

Lloyd's voice greeted her as she stirred and instantly a hand was placed on her shoulder as he sat up and looked over to her, causing Sheena to look to the side, looking up at the brown haired swordsman, worry filled his eyes and she could see that. But there was a helplessness other whelming her at what she could do. She would only lay her head on her pillow as she half closed her eyes, if he was not there she could swear that she would lose control and start sobbing helplessly.

'Lloyd...don't leave...please.' Sheena wanted to see it, but the strings of her voices were not singing, so no sound was produced from her lips.

She could see that Lloyd felt a piece of her despair, but there was nothing she could do to push it back enough to try to put the young man at ease. Replaying last night constantly through her mind, only caused her to shiver in a combination of terror and sudden chill coursing through her body.

A breath came out in a shudder from between her lips.

Lloyd's fingers tensed a little on her shoulder, but it was not anything painful as more of like an attempt to remind her he was her for her and wanted to try comfort her with his presence. If only he could know that his presence was the only thing keeping her from shattering into a void of her own black despair.

She heard him whisper something in her ear, but her swirling mind and aching heart did not allow her to hear the words of what he had to say to her and she could not stand the fact that now she was not able to hear his voice, Lloyd's voice in a whisper would be a pillar of strength put up to hold her sanity that she desperately needed. However she tried to find comfort in the fact that he was still here and she knew Lloyd enough to know that he would not leave her side.

She knew she could depend on him when she needed him, and right now she would need him more then even she knew was possible.

A cold sweat started to form on her forehead as she felt her eyes suddenly shut tight, a pain coursed through her body and even her throat tensed as if she was being choked. A burning pain filled her chest where the vile nobles hand invaded. She brought a hand to where her heart rested and grasped the flesh tight, her mouth opened as she tried to breath. But such a simple task was proving to be impossible. She could swear she heard Lloyd exclaim her name in worry, but once more his voice was blocked out from her consciousness as her muscles started to tense and lock up.

Her world became consumed in blackness. Into nothingness.

Sheena's eyes slowly cracked open, it was still a dim light outside. It seemed it was still morning time as she felt her body gently shaken, but the voice she heard was panicked and worried.

"Sheena? Sheena?"

How such a voice could cause her to calm down was amazing, but it had a side effort of hearing his voice in dismay only made her feel worse.

"Sheena please!" Lloyd called out to her.

Sheena's eyes fully opened as she looked up to Lloyd, he was no longer beside her. But he was standing over her at the side of the, fully dressed with his swords in his hands. That could only mean one thing and she knew it, there was impending conflict coming their way.

But her body betrayed her as she could not even muster the energy to move. It was like her own body had given up on her and decided to shut down completely when Lloyd needed her.

"Here you are!" Came a voice she had never heard before.

"Dammit." Lloyd gritted his teeth as he turned on his side, lifting both his swords as he faced the threat that had entered the room. "I don't want to do this." Lloyd whispered out, then he looked down at Sheena from the corner of his eye. "But I won't let you take her."

Sheena tried to force herself up, but her muscles did not respond and worse yet she felt her eyes slowly closing one more time. She could not let herself fall unconscious now, not now of all times.

The purple ninja's eyes opened once more, but her sights were blurred, dazed. The only thing her eyes could focus on was Lloyd. He was looking ahead with a determined expression on his face. His arms where around her and her head was set to rest against his shoulder, he was carrying her as he ran through the forest. Now she realized why she could not focus on anything else besides him, it was taking her awhile to adjust to the motion of his running through the forest. Running towards their rheaird would be her first guess, escaping the village and whatever threatened it.

Did that mean that Lloyd retreated and left the village in danger? No, she knew that Lloyd would not leave people in danger. That could only mean that whatever threatened the village was after them and that staying there would be endangering their lives. Lloyd was fleeing to make sure that the village was not exposed to anything harmful.

Sheena fought, but her eyes closed again.

The slice of cold air against her face was the next thing to greet her as Sheena's brown eyes opened again, she was still being held close to Lloyd as he seemed to be able to keep her safe while driving the rheaird through the cold night air.

'Night?' Sheena thought to herself.

It then dawned on her that if it was already night, then that meant that when it looked like it was dawn it was actually sunset and she had been unconscious for most of the day.

The look on Lloyd's face seemed to haunt her, she looked up to him as his facial features seemed more stern, hardened then usual as his eyes seemed to stare forward intently as his jaws continued to bind together in tension. Something that she knew that she could not have caused to him. Whatever happened in the village was bothering him and unsettling to the red swordsman.

She wanted to reach up and stroke his cheek, reassure him. But her eyes continued to rebel against her as they threatened to close, as much as she tried not to fall prey to their call. But it was a battle she could not win.

-**Scene Change**-

"I cannot be certain, Lloyd. I have spent time studying the power of summons at the research facility but what is happening to her has not been documented." came a firm toned female voice.

"Anything at all, Professor. A theory." Lloyd pleaded.

A helpless sigh breezed through the air from the female.

'Raine?' Sheena thought as she slowly cracked open her eyes.

"The best I could come up with then. The summons trusted in Sheena and she made a pact with them. They were bound to her will." Raine started, Sheena did not have to open her eyes to visualize Raine placing a hand to her forehead as she came up with her theory.

"Professor?" Lloyd urged impatiently.

"Patience Lloyd." Raine replied with a stern, near scolding manner. "I can see it as the summons acting like a form of parasite." Raine continued.

"A parasite? But if that-" Lloyd interrupted.

"Lloyd!" Raine scolded sharply.

"Sorry." Lloyd's tone went low.

Sheena kept her eyes closed as she listened to the two exchange, it was not like it mattered if she was awake or not, or at least that is how she felt. She could not explain why she felt so helpless and worse yet why she had such a low concern for herself.

"Like the Exsphere, properly maintained. The parasite is more helpful then harmful. It is not like I am saying they are a parasite Lloyd, just using it as a comparison to try to base a theory on the condition that Sheena is in. But a parasite can attach itself to a vessel. It becomes dependant on that vessel and sooner or later that vessel can become dependant on it. By what you are saying, it is like someone ripped the summons from her body, so I can base a theory that a chunk of Sheena's energy, perhaps even her own mana was ripped from her as well. Her body is suffering from the sudden withdrawal and has put her in this comatose like state."

"So then...she will be alright? She just needs time right?" Lloyd asked.

Sheena heard the urgency in his voice.

"That cannot be guaranteed." Raine sighed. "Like I said, Lloyd. Nothing like this has ever been documented before. This is not like Colette and the Angel Toxicosis where her condition was documented over other Chosen. This is new, those summonses have not formed a pact with anyone before besides Sheena and Mithos. You wanted a theory Lloyd, I gave you one." Raine completed.

"So then you cannot-" Lloyd started.

"I cannot heal something if I do not know what I am healing, Lloyd." Raine stated calmly.

"Professor." Lloyd sighed.

"Now is not the time to lose your head."

Sheena's eyes slowly opened, as much as it took to force her to open them and look over at the two speaking, she was in some house. Looked quite new to be honest, or rebuilt.

"Lloyd! She's waking up!" Exclaimed Genis.

"Sheena!" Lloyd's voice resounded.

Sheena felt the bed give slightly as Lloyd leaned against the edge of the bed, his brown eyes locked on hers. She knew something was seriously wrong with her the moment she felt his eyes lock with hers, normally such eye contact would send a wave of warmth through her body, but now she felt nothing from his eyes. Nothing from the worried swordsman and that scared her more then before.

"Lloyd." Sheena whispered, the fear of not feeling anything from the mans eyes was enough to make a blur appear at the bottom of her eyes, tears where threatening her vision and she could not control it.

Raine walked across the floor boards casually as she stood two paces behind Lloyd, looking down at her with her arms folded over her chest. She was not upset though, Sheena could swear that the professor was looking at her with worry in her eyes. If she was in any different mood she would claim it was almost surreal. Although they had put their trust issues in the past, beside a professional front, she and the professor did not exchange much and the professor was so guarded that she almost never expressed worry when it came to her.

"Are you alright, Sheena?" Genis asked, also leaning against the bed to the left of Lloyd.

Sheena felt her throat tense as she swallowed hard, gathering as much strength as she could to try to push the tears away. It was enough that she was being consumed whole from the inside out, she did not need to crumble in front of him to add to the complications of what she was going through. Sheena did manage to push herself up to a sitting position as she folded her arms over her stomach, as if continuing to be ruled by a relentless chill flushing through her. Pulling her knees up so she could lean forward onto them. She wanted to reply, but she could not find the words or even the energy to be able to do so.

"She has been so cold." Lloyd stated as he placed a gloved hand on her shoulder.

Sheena looked over to him, he was looking over his shoulder at Raine. He was speaking to her and she could only guess that he meant that she was cold to the touch.

Her brown eyes closed again, but she was not passing out this time. It was like the darkness was the only comforting thing she could experience currently. She knew something was wrong with her and there was nothing she was able to do about it. It was like she was undergoing a transformation, she could only look back on a memory of earlier how she thought and felt having Lloyd close to her was what she needed, now it was like she suddenly stopped caring and she could not explain why this was happening.

"Sheena." Lloyd whispered, his voice was closer.

The weight on the bed told Sheena that Lloyd was now sitting on the edge, close to her and the gloved hand gently caressed her shoulder as if trying to urge her back to the world, to return to him but she couldn't...it was like she would not let herself.

-**Scene Change**-

The night was calm, clean and brisk in the small village of Iselia. This was Lloyd's home village, where he grew up. Sheena knew that normally that would mean something to her, but she could not find the emotion to express it.

She walked along the dirt pathway as the village lays in deathly silence. She actually found an interesting amount of peace in that thought as she walked over to the school house where she knew that Lloyd attended. Where Raine taught her classes and one place where he would have spent a lot of time with Genis and Colette.

'Colette' Sheena thought absently.

There was a time when she could not help but feel threatened and sometimes envious of the past that Lloyd and Colette had and sometimes thought it was hopeless to have fallen for Lloyd the way she did. But yet it was her that Lloyd choose, it was her that he spent two years of his life with traveling the world. Now she could not help but feel the distress of the fact that for some reason, all that meant nothing to her right now.

'I am cold.' Sheena thought to herself, looking down at her fingertips.

Her brown eyes cast themselves on the elegant ring that was placed on her finger by Lloyd, the moon seemed to bring out a deeper, darker beauty that she did not notice before. Lifting her other hand, she lightly traced her finger across the crystalline surface.

Her heart jumped as the gem itself gave a faint flicker of energy, she took a step back as if that would put distance between her and the rings sudden activity. The flickering stopped the moment it started as she blinked once, maybe it was just her mind playing a little trick on her. She cautiously inched her fingers near the gemstone one more time, very slowly tracing her finger across the surface, holding her breath as she waited for the gem to react once more.

The gem flickered once more, then again before the gem seemed to give a faint stable glow which made Sheena's heart jump once more. The energy seemed to float out of the gemstone as the energy hovered in the air before her, forcing Sheena to keep her eyes on it as it slowly floated towards the ground. The energy then started to take shape right before Sheena's eyes.

The energy twisted and curved until taking the solid form, the energy turning black as it seemed to materialize into an actual entity, shifting into a black furred, green eyed house cat.

Sheena blinked once as she looked down at the feline.

The feline eyes seemed to blink rapidly as if adjusting to its surroundings before its front paws stretched out, extending claws as the cat gave a big yawn before looking to its side and look up at Sheena, it's green eyes seemed to scan her form before the cat seemed to roll it eyes.

"Oh great...This is who I have to put up with now?" The cat remarked in a calm, beautiful tone.

'Did...that cat just...talk?' Sheena thought to herself.

The cats green eyes locked onto Sheena's, a careless and unimpressed gaze as the cat sat down in front of her in silence as it's tail swooshed from side to side.


	10. Still a professor

Chapter 10

Lloyd ran through the village of Hima, the soldiers had come for Sheena and himself. He could not believe what he had just heard and what he was being charged of. But what he knew he had to do was get Sheena and get out of Hima. He did not wish to cause these people any trouble and create another incident like what happened in Iselia.

"Stop right there!" called a man in clad armor, he ran from Lloyd's side as he lifted his sword up for a slash.

Lloyd already had both his blades drawn as he jumped back, avoiding the wide downwards swing. Lloyd then shot a foot forward to stomp on the swords edge, followed up with two attacks from Lloyd, one sword hitting the knights forearm as the armor cracked under the edge of the blade and another sword swung wide as it clashed into the side of the knights helmet, denting the metal as the knight dropped his sword and brought both hands to his helmet to try to stop the thundering echo of the hit from ringing into his ears.

"Beast!" Lloyd yelled as he pushed off on his farthest foot and rammed his shoulder into the knights breastplate, causing a swirl of blue energy to explode from Lloyd's shoulder once more as the energy beast roared through the air and slammed the knight to the ground with a hard thump. Lloyd knew this would not kill the knight, but it would be enough to disable him for the time since he would require recovery time.

Lloyd left the knight behind, he did not have a second to waste as he ran towards the cottage where Sheena was resting, she had not opened her eyes all day and whimpered in her sleep. He should not have left her, but he had to when he heard commotion outside.

Now he knew why, he was being hunted by Knights of the Church of Martel once more, but this time they were hunting him for a crime he was framed for. There were even soldiers of Palmacosta mixed in with the knights.

Lloyd entered the cottage that hid Sheena from the outside world, she was still laying there unconscious. He quickly closed the distance between himself and the bed as he reached over to nudge her gently with his fingertips, holding the hilt to his palm with his thumb.

"Sheena? Sheena?"

Lloyd glanced to his side as he watched her body stir, but she did not snap to like she normally would. If he had taken that tone with her in the past he knew she would be up on her feet and ready to stand by his side and fend off whatever crossed their path.

Not that he wanted her to take up arms right now, he did not want to spill the blood of those who were just doing their job and they were probably mislead. He had spilled enough misguided blood to soak his body and haunt his memories, he did not want or need anymore nightmares to fill his consuming nights.

"Sheena please!" Lloyd felt himself pleading down to her still form.

His eyes went from her form to the door and then back down to her. Feeling his fingers grip tightly around the hilts of his swords as his teeth pressed together hard enough to cause a dull pain. It was his tension and urgency getting the better of patience.

His desire to get Sheena out of harms way.

"Here you are!" a deep voice roared over the room.

"Dammit." Lloyd felt himself lightly growl under his breath as his teeth gritted together, causing another painful friction as he slowly turned to face the threat, the knight was now reinforced with two other comrades at his sides.

'There is no way I am going to be able to make it out of here without fighting.' Lloyd thought to himself as he assessed his situation. They would block his method of escape and it could be safe to assume that they were already surrounding the house to make sure that there was no escape for either of them. 'I am going to have to shed more blood with these blades.' Lloyd grimaced for a moment.

"I don't want to do this." Lloyd whispered to himself as he narrowed his eyes at the advancing targets, they took casual steps towards him as they would advance on any prone target. Probably giving him a chance to surrender and realize that there was nowhere for him to go.

Lloyd's eyes looked to the corner of his eye, down at Sheena as he swallowed hard and turned to face the threat. They would not lay one hand on her, that he promised himself as he felt his hands tremble in a heated emotion that was starting to boil at the very thought of them harming her.

"But I won't let you take her." Lloyd stated in a stern tone.

Lloyd looked at the three advancing men, then turned his head quickly to the window nearest to him. But the movement of shadows he caught just outside told him that there was company waiting for them if the window was considered as a method of escape.

He had to think fast, looking up towards the ceiling he had an idea strike him suddenly. There was a second floor to this place and on that second floor was a balcony. If he could buy them just a little bit of time, but he knew these three would not let that come to pass.

Looking to the bed, he gave a determined nod to his head as he stabbed the blanket that covered over Sheena's form and then turned his head to face the three men, judging their distance quickly in his head he pulled hard at his right sword, pulling the blanket off the bed as he flung it over to the three men, the blanket spreading to cover over the one in the front.

"Hey!"

Lloyd dashed in front of him as he once more depended on this one art to get him out of a tight situation, ramming his shoulder into the knight as blue energy fizzled and swirled in the air and in the snap of a second that seemed to last longer then it should have to Lloyd, the energy formed into the figure of a lion as the energy burst through the air and its sudden formation caused a thunderous roar to bounce off the walls of the room as it sent the knight flying backwards, slamming into his two comrades as the three of them crashed onto the ground.

'Better then the alternative.' Lloyd thought to himself as the room was suddenly alive with grunts and idle rambling between the three as the one on top of the two, caught in the fabric of the blanket was thrashing around violently.

Lloyd was quick to sheath his swords as he turned on his heel, looking down at Sheena. He would not waste this moment he was given. Scooping her up in his arms, he held her close to his chest as he made haste to climb the stairs upwards.

The balcony welcomed his return outside with crisp, moist air that seemed colder then he remembered. Breathing out once, Lloyd inched his way to the edge of the balcony to look down to confirm his suspicions when he saw that the house was surrounded and worse, the pathway out of the village was already getting blockaded with a line of resistance that would make sure that any hopes of escape would remain but a distant dream.

"Lloyd Irving!" called a voice from the crowd, he was looking up to the house.

Lloyd grunted once as he inched a little closer to the edge of the balcony to cast his brown eyes downwards to the one that called out his name.

"You are charged with the crime of the destruction of Luin! Surrender now and come out peacefully! Answer for your crimes!" the man demanded.

The light taste of copper filled Lloyd's senses as he realized he had bit into his bottom lip a little too hard. He was being framed for the destruction of Luin. Valemeros had somehow eluded the eyes of the vengeful and direction those eyes towards him. His hand slide up the middle of Sheena's back lightly until his hand cradled the back of her head, placing her firmly against himself, her head rested on his shoulder.

With the knowledge that he had Sheena in a secured position, Lloyd took a few steps back before breathing in deep once, closing his eyes for but a moment before dashing forward to place his right foot on the top of the railing, kicking off the railing to become airborne as he jumped down to the ground below. Landing in a kneel, Lloyd's eyes darted around to see the men in clad armor around him. Standing up dashed towards the only area that lacked the blockade of figures.

The only secure path was up towards the top of Hima. Where they had taken their flights from the dragons to get to the Tower of Salvation. There was no trail that led down from the top, but Lloyd had to trust in his instincts on this one and deal with the one thing that was before them. The first thing was getting away from the men seeking to arrest him and secure Sheena's safety first.

The burn in his legs started to remind Lloyd that he was limited in what he was capable of doing and dashing up the hill with Sheena in his arms at the speed he was trying to maintain happened to be one of those that would quickly take a toll and tax his body.

His shoulder was not being his alley in this exertion either, the pain tried to flare up in a furious fire from within the muscles. But Lloyds determination managed to push aside the tightening muscles and the razor cutting flames from within his shoulder.

Lloyd managed to scale to the top as he looked around, the dragons were not there. Lloyd should have figured that the dragons would not be an option ever since the world was united. Probably relocated to a more populated area. Lloyd felt his knees trying to buckle as his chest heaved heavily and he realized just how cry his throat was feeling. It felt like he had tried to drink down the heated desert sands. But Lloyd was also pleasantly surprised to not here the footsteps of men in clad armor behind him, he had managed to part enough distance from them that they were still pattering up the hill.

Lloyd could not help but think of the possibility that they were taking their time knowing that there was no way off the top.

His footsteps staggered for a moment as Lloyd grunted once. The pain was catching up to him and was trying to claim him. But he had to battle through it, he had failed Sheena once already and he would never be able to forgive himself if he let her down again and got both of them caught and she was charged for something she did not do.

The night wind breezed through the skies, inviting an almost grim overwhelming sensation of dread and helplessness. Had Lloyd been a lesser man, he would have found himself succumbing to the very elements of nature itself working against him while he was about to be cornered by the knights of the Church of Martel and the soldiers of Palmacoasta.

"Wind...wind..." Lloyd whispered breathlessly still.

A string of craziness started to weave a web of thoughts in Lloyd's fatigued mind. He would have to have the faith in himself as he started towards the edge of the cliff, taking one last glance over his shoulder towards the path that descended down towards the armored mob below before looked back over to Sheena's prone and unconscious form. She was still cold to the touch and that worried him as he pulled her close to whisper softly.

"Trust in me, Sheena."

With that, Lloyd jumped off the cliffs edge, letting gravity take its course before he managed to land with both feet against the cliff side and rocks instantly kicked up as Lloyd slide down towards the bottom. He could only hope his feet did not hit into any uneven rocks, such a twist of misfortune could send them both tumbling down and if they were not killed by the crash and tumbles, then they would both be in a critical state that would make the escape from their pursuers impossible.

The world seemed to zip by so quickly as Lloyd slide down the edge, finding the ground coming up quick as he held his breath for a moment and mustered everything he could to leap from the cliff side when he did his best estimation on a safe moment to take the jump. Lloyd knew he did not want to meet the end with all the force that gravity was giving him on his trip down. It would be a violent and sudden stop that would not only risk himself but the passenger he held close. Lloyd feet slammed into the ground below as his knees buckled, holding Sheena tight to himself as he bent forward and managed to roll with the impact to reduce the shock that lightning up the joints from his legs up as he rested in a kneel.

Brown eyes instantly looked over to Sheena as a hand gently tilted her head back to look down upon her pale skin. Lloyd breathed out one sigh of relief as he pushed himself up to a stand, it felt like his clothes had turned into cast iron in seconds with the amount of effort it took for such a simple motion. But all he needed to do was make it to the Rheairds and then he would be able to take Sheena to the only place he knew would be safe.

-Scene Change-

Lloyd crashed against the side of the wall as his weight slide against the wooden surface and he crashed down to a sitting position.

He knew he probably should have dropped down at his Father's house first, but his concern for Sheena was too great to go there and he thought the sooner he could get her to the most knowledgeable person he knew the better.

Raine gently tugged at her nightgown, trying not to show any form of embarrassment at the lack of clothing that she wore when Lloyd arrived at her doorstep.

Lloyd closed his eyes as he tried to find someway to put his hammering heart to rest and to firmly grasp control of his racing mind as he cradled his arm to his stomach. He had not experienced the amount of punishment he had to endure in two years since the last journeys with the entire party of his comrades and friends.

"So what is so important that it could not wait, Lloyd?" Raine stated, the calmness of her voice was betrayed with a very faint trace of irritation as she folded her arms over her pale green nightgown.

"She...She...Sheena..." Lloyd uttered, bringing a hand to his shoulder as he gripped tightly.

Lloyd forced his eyes open as he slowly raised his head, but he saw Raine's facial features soften as he knew that she realized exactly what condition he was now in. Her almost silent footsteps crossed the hardwood floor as Lloyd lowered his gaze to the floor.

"I'm sorry...Professor. I didn't know where else to go...I just..." he glanced over to Sheena who was laid out on Raine's bed. "I felt so...helpless."

Raine placed a hand tenderly on Lloyd's injured shoulder as he fought back a flinch as his breath caught painfully in his throat. But such a sensation was almost instantly wiped from his body as Raine imparted her warmth through his body. So many times Raine had done this to him and the others of the party that had suffered injuries. Raine could not focus her healing art as potently as she once could before. But before she had her exsphere and two years ago, her Exsphere along with Genis' were the firsts that Lloyd took on his journey to collect all the exspheres in the world. Without such a thing to help her channel her spells, all Raine could do was provide warmth and comfort into Lloyd's body and push his body to a speedy recovery. But that was all Raine needed to do as she closed her eyes and focused hard. Lloyd knew it did not fully restore his injured shoulder, even with her exsphere empowering her arts she would not be able to restore the devastation that the battle with his Father Kratos did to him.

Lloyd felt his body calm under her touch and energy. When she did this, it was almost like he could touch her elven energy. Not that it made any sense to him, he would not even know what the energy felt like if he was bathed in it. It was just a feeling.

The burning muscles cooled and the raging flames of pain were sizzled under her care as she slowly lifted her hand from his shoulder and Lloyd gave a single deep easy breath as if a weight had been thrown from his body and he was allowed to relax.

"Now." Raine started as she rested on both her knees in front of Lloyd. "What happened?"

"I...don't even know where to start." Lloyd grimaced as he looked over to Sheena.

He finally noticed that Genis was sitting beside the bed now, looking over Sheena with an attentive and almost scanning way as if he was investigating something he had never seen before. Something about that unsettled Lloyd, but he let it pass to look back to the Professor.

"What happened to Sheena?" Raine decided to start.

The thoughts of how to explain what happened to Sheena seemed to be hard for Lloyd to do as he swallowed hard, looking into Raine's inquisitive eyes. He felt a sudden sting of a new kind of failure. Now he had to look his Professor in the eyes and confess where he failed Sheena, but if it meant finding out what Sheena was going through. Lloyd would endure it however many times it took.

"Alright Professor. I will do my best to try and not leave anything out." Lloyd gave a determined nod.

-Scene Change-

Lloyd looked down at Sheena as her form was curled up to hold herself in a feeble position, a victim of the predatory cold that seemed to stalk Sheena. But he had managed to get her to relax enough to rest for the night.

Sheena had been drifting in and out of consciousness ever since the incident happened and the fact that Raine did not know for sure what was wrong only trouble the young swordsman more as he looked down at her, still gently caressing her covered shoulder as Sheena was covered in two blankets in a futile attempt to battle back the claws of the nights chill that seemed to be buried deep within her body.

Glancing over his shoulder, Lloyd looked over to Genis as he was asleep in a peaceful state. But Raine was nowhere in the room to be found. After he had managed to put Sheena at ease enough to be claimed by sleep did the red swordsman notice that the Professor managed to slip out of the house and now she was gone.

If Lloyd knew the Professor as much as he thought he did, then he knew where she would be at. As much as he regretted the idea of leaving Sheena right now. Raine was one of his best hopes he would have for Sheena's recovery right now. He gently pushed himself off the edge of the bed, taking one last look at the wounded summoner before turning around and leaving the house.

It was a complicated feeling to be back in Iselia after the misadventures led to its destruction by the Designs at the nearby Human Ranch. But he was welcomed back after all the events that had taken place, not that Lloyd visited Iselia often. Maybe once or twice over the two years and those were taken to visit Colette and Genis. Raine too of course, he would not be forgiven by the Professor if he excluded her and he would not dare.

Lloyd felt like a complete stranger walking through the small village that he grew up in, what a strange feeling to feel like you do not belong in the place of which he shared so many memories of. It did not even seem like that long ago that he was walking along the village, laughing and playing with Colette and Genis, waiting for Raine to come after them to get them to return to class before she was forced to come out and remind them to obey her commands.

'Is it natural to face the countless life threatening dangers that I have and still be afraid of the Professor when I think about her getting angry?' Lloyd found himself able muse over the topic.

The reconstructed school that he went too looked similar like it always had in one way, but it was still giving Lloyd that feeling that he did not belong to these surroundings anymore as much as Genis and Colette managed to adopt their old lives again. Lloyd knew his was changed forever when he experienced everything he did and he saw the pains and hardships that so many others went through and the suffering the Exsphere imparted on others.

It was then that Lloyd realized he needed to help everyone he could, and he would start with the object that has acted as the symbol for the greed for power at the expense of the weak. If Lloyd could correct that, then it would be a glorious step towards his goal.

Lloyd sucked in a breath as he walked forward and gently pushed the door open to walk through the now foreign hallway as he made his way towards the class.

His assumptions were proven correct when he saw there was a light source coming from the class as Lloyd made his way towards the opening of the door and then peeked his head inside the classroom. Spotting the Professor already buried into a book at her desk as she let her glasses rest on the bridge of her nose as she flipped through another page of the text.

'Oh.' Lloyd thought to himself. 'I forgot that she is no longer the Professor of this school.' Lloyd continued his thought pattern.

Raine had been replaced by another Professor and often the Professor would travel, sometime she would take Genis with her but other times she would leave him here with Colette to keep her company. Lloyd's lack of information proved that he did not visit Iselia often as he stepped into the classroom.

The red swordsman could not help but wonder if the Professor missed being the teacher of the school in Iselia village or not. But he would need to push that thought out of his mind for now, he needed to worry about one thing at a time.

"Professor?" Lloyd asked.

Raine looked up from her text book as she looked over to the young man, her expression was emotionless and her eyes were in that research mode that gave nothing about her away.

"Oh, Lloyd." She finally remarked after what seemed to be an eternity of silence in their visual exchange as she traced her fingers along the paper.

"Any luck?" Lloyd asked, walking over to her desk as he looked down at the text book that she was reading.

"Lloyd. You realize the odds of finding anything that could help Sheena is very slim and anything I may find in the text would probably be a messy theory at best by the creative, imaginative or baseless minds of other researchers." Raine remarked.

"Um." Lloyd thought to himself for a moment.

"We're on our own, Lloyd." Raine stated in a flat tone.

"I can't...fail her again." Lloyd whispered.

The sound of a closing text book filled the room as Lloyd's attention was snapped to as he noticed that Raine's fingers pressed hard against cover of the book. Her eyes held a sudden stinging coldness to them that even made Lloyd take a step back. His throat started to dry up.

"And what exactly could you have done, Lloyd?" Raine confronted.

"I could have stopped him!" Lloyd found his voice raising defensively.

"How?" Raine inquired again.

"If I had been stronger..." Lloyd started.

"Lloyd. The sooner you learn that you cannot save everyone...will be for the better." Raine slowly raised from what once was her chair.

"But-" Lloyd started.

"Listen to me, Lloyd." Raine's voice suddenly softened.

Raine let out a sigh as she walked over, placing a hand on Lloyd's shoulder as she guided him towards the window of the classroom that looked outside.

"When Colette was lost. What could you have done then?" Raine asked.

Lloyd seemed to think about that for a moment, that was not a memory he ever wished to relive in his mind when he remembered when Colette became nothing but an empty shell for Martel. The emotions that flushed through him and the tears that spilled from his eyes as he felt that sting of failure.

"Nothing." Raine's voice took a stern turn once more, catching the young mans attention.

"Professor?" Lloyd almost weakly asked.

"Lloyd, there was nothing you or I could have done. There will always be things that happen that cannot be prevented." Raine reached down to grab Lloyd's hand as she lifted the back of his hand up to his line of sight. "There was nothing you could have done for the lives taken by the Exsphere, Lloyd." her voice returned to a more understanding and calm tone. "But there is something you are doing about it and the pain these have brought to others. You are taking on the huge burden of making sure they do not hurt anyone ever again." she looked down at the swordsman as his brown eyes went from the back of his hand to Raine's face. "My point is, Lloyd. What happened to Sheena was something you could not prevent. You could drag yourself down and follow her down the dark path that she is falling down. Or you can do something about it." Raine nodded once.

"I think I understand what you are trying to say." Lloyd confessed as he lowered his hand, slipping his hand out from Raine's.

"Just do what you do best, Lloyd." Raine gave a very soft smile.

"She needs me, Professor. So I need to be there for her." Lloyd have a nod as he looked outside.

He could not explain it, even though Raine told him everything he already knew, hearing Raine say it from her own lips seemed to empower his own determination as he let out a light breath of relief.

"This does not mean you are alone, Lloyd." Raine comforted as she folded her arms over her chest once more, looking out of the window. "You're never alone in this."

"Thank you." Lloyd nodded once, feeling a renewed fervor almost burst alive inside him "Professor." Lloyd completed.

Lloyd let Sheena's pains consume him enough, now it was time for him to be her strength and he was not going to let her down. Lloyd could not help but let the smallest bit of a smirk form into the corner of his lips as he felt the much needed sting of determination grow from within himself and dominate his soul.

He was so lucky that Raine happened to be in Iselia on his arrival.

-Scene Change-

The city of Flanoir burned brightly under the night sky as the demonic form of Efreet floated over the city, it raised one arm into the air as a portion of the city suddenly became consumed in hellfire and then Efreet raised his other arm in the other direction, causing a trail of fire to flood the streets and silence the terrified screams erupting from that area.

The very night skies themselves seemed to grow thousands of eyes as Shadow materialized from above, huge hands hovering over the city as black shards rained from the skies and everything that the shards touched shattered on impact or the humanoid figures it did touch down on instantly became still for that moment as if the body was struck by something so swiftly it took time to register before their bodies fell limp and the very life from them was reaped.

Winds howled in hurricane winds, but none of those winds entered the city. Instead the winds circled the city to ensure anyone who tried to flee the devastation would be carried up and away into the skies to be forgotten...or discovered on the ocean or distant lands.

Valemeros watched a sadistic grin on his face as he weaved his hands as if he were playing with puppets, cause in many ways he was when he was commanding the Summon Spirits to do his bidding. To have such power at his fingertips seemed so unbelievable.

Valemeros' laugh roared in the air as he watched the entire city crumble under his will.

Both Monique and Cecil could only watch in a cross between amazement and fear as their master crushed the city off the face of the map in what would be an overnight destruction.


	11. A felines humor

Chapter 11

Sheena blinked once as if thinking the talking black cat would disappear after she blinked, but all the cat did was lift the back of it's paw up and lick the fur. Sheena could swear she saw the cat's tail swoosh back and forth as if it was annoyed.

"Great. Could not have at least woken me in a clean environment I see. Consideration is still a trait lost to you humans." the cat remarked, giving itself a shower.

Sheena looked at the ring once more and then back to the cat that continued to lick itself clean, licking the back of it's paw and wiping it over the back of it's head.

The cat opened it's eyes to reveal the bright beauty of their green shine as the cat looked up towards the purple ninja. She felt her heart suddenly skip a beat when the cat locked onto her eyes. She could not help but actually be startled by the intense stare the cat was capable of.

"You don't talk much do you? Well I am not going to complain." the cat commented

"I...Uh..." Sheena stuttered.

"You can at least compose a sentence. I'll wait for you." the cat sarcastically remarked.

"How..." Sheena tried to start. "What..." she looked to her ring and then looked to the cat. "Who...?" her mind was racing with too many questions flushing through at once.

"Try and limit your mind to one question at a time, human. You get more progress that way." the cat actually rolled its eyes and looked upwards, giving a wide feline yawn.

"You're tired?" Sheena asked the most absent question that first came to her mind, a question formulated on events just now happening.

"Out of everything you could ask and you ask if I am tired?" the cat actually managed to arch the area that could be considered its eyebrow. "I have been asleep for many years, humans. You try and be wide awake after a long period of rest." the cat's eyes were half open, but in the way that felines do when they are less then amused.

"What..." Sheena sputtered once, then took one deep breath to regain herself. "What are you?"

"What do I look like?" The animal replied, the tail twitched in a casual swoosh while it sat on the ground.

"You look like a cat." Sheena observed.

"Nothing gets passed you." The cat hummed, lifting a paw up to lick the fur lightly.

Sheena took a step forward to slowly close the distance between herself and the feline. She observed that the black cat was no bigger then the common household feline. But she also knew that there was no feline that she knew of that perfectly composed words and spoke intelligently.

"What do I call you?" Sheena wondered.

"What am I?" The feline replied.

"A cat." Sheena blinked once.

"Then that is what you can call me."

"Cat?" Sheena asked uncertain.

"That works." The feline finally lowered it paw as it looked up to Sheena.

"Cat." Sheena confirmed more confidently.

"You can repeat it all night if you like. But it won't change my name."

Sheena did not know what to think of this situation. Too much was happening for her mind to remain calm. Somewhere she wanted to burst out, but even if she did give into that urge she did not know what emotion would flush to the surface. She knew that lingering inside her body was a deep and dark despair that probably would flourish to the surface. The loss of Luin, loss of countless lives, the feeling of having her very being ripped out of her vessel, the desperation she could see in Lloyd but yet could do nothing about. It would all probably be too overwhelming if that gate was opened.

"How did you end up in a...ring?" Sheena asked before her mind wandered too much on the topic of what she should be feeling but yet find out that she can no longer feel anything. That the only thing she could really feel was a consuming void of cold and darkness deep inside.

"What would that matter?" Cat hummed casually.

"I want to know how a female feline got trapped into a ring." Sheena felt her tone gain a little firm sound to the words said.

Cat had her eyes closed for a few moments during their conversation until she heard the firm tone now come from the purple ninja and her ears stiffened for a moment and one green eye opened to look up to the ninja.

"Call me a Guardian of sorts. I have been trapped in that ring for generations. Every time the family line finds themselves in hardships or dangers and wears that ring. They may call upon me. Now it would seem you are the one experiencing the hardships or I would not have been disrupted from my sleep." Cat stated, there was still no emotion to her smooth and lilting words.

"Sheena?" came a familiar tone.

Sheena felt her nerves jump a little, more out of being startled from the sudden intrusion as she looked over her shoulder to have her eyes meet the man who spoke to her. She looked over to Lloyd as he seemed to have a slight tilt to his head. The moon cast a beautiful radiance on his skin and gave his gentle but strong eyes a penetrating invasion that she could swear almost went to the center of the consuming void and almost warmed her.

"Lloyd, what are you doing awake?" Sheena wondered.

She could not tell what his expression was, but it seemed that he was troubled by how she was speaking. Sheena felt her eyes glance upwards for a moment.

'How am I speaking?' Sheena wondered.

"I could ask the same for you, Sheena." Lloyd replied.

Sheena felt her mind snap to as her eyes fell back to Lloyd.

"I think I have been resting enough." Sheena confessed. "Ever since the-" she tried to continue, but felt a twitch of pain in her body that prevented her from reliving that even in words as her hand slowly came to her chest and she gently squeeze the cloth that covered over the spot of her heart. Where the nobles hand had invaded and ripped a piece of her out.

Lloyd lifted a hand, which caught her eyes and the red swordsman walked towards her until the distance between them was even less then two paces away.

"You do not have to say it, Sheena." Lloyd said in his usual soft, understanding tone that always managed to give off a feeling of comfort and care.

"Thank you, Lloyd." Sheena nodded once.

"It's like a love skit." came the sarcastic unamused tone from Cat.

Sheena felt a familiar lightning of annoyance tingle up her spine. It was the same feeling she felt when she had to deal with the idiot chosen as her eyes narrowed slightly, much to Lloyd's sudden confusion.

"Shut up." Sheena felt herself hiss quickly.

"What?" Lloyd blinked in a bewildered manner.

"Not you, Lloyd." Sheena reassured. "Cat."

"Huh? Cat?" Lloyd looked confused.

Sheena stepped to the side, gesturing her hand downwards to show Lloyd who Cat was, looking down at the black feline as she looked up to Sheena and then looked to Lloyd with a slight tilt to her head.

"Oh don't let me disturb you both." Cat continued to purr softly.

Lloyd blinked once as she saw that his eyes were searching where she was trying to put his attention to. Sheena looked over to Cat as the striking green eyes looked up, almost innocently, back at her.

"I know she looks like a normal cat but she isn't." Sheena looked back to Lloyd. His brown eyes on her own showed that he was completely lost and maybe even a little shade of worry detected in his gaze.

"Uh..." was all Lloyd seemed capable of trying to say, a hand came up to rub the back of his head as Sheena noticed his brown eyes seemed to shift and back forth like he was having trouble seeing where she was gesturing to.

Sheena could not help but blink as she looked over to Cat and waved her hand slightly, gesturing for Cat to come forward. But all the feline did was give a wide yawn.

"Sheena." Cat yawned out.

"No no, Cat come on...Lloyd is alright, he is-" Sheena started.

"You're secret lover, that much is apparent and thick in the air." Cat stated as she looked to the side, as if something else was suddenly gaining her attention. Sheena's spine tingled and stiffened at how sudden and abrupt that was as she looked to Lloyd with wide eyes, knowing he had to have heard that.

Lloyd however looked at her speechless and seemed to have the facial expression of nervousness as his fingers continued to rustle lightly through his brown locks. Sheena actually felt her chest tighten out of fear as she forced herself to turn to the black feline.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Please." Cat looked back to Sheena. "Oh, it also might be important for you to know that lover boy cannot hear or see me." a feline smirk crossed the expression of Cat.

Sheena blinked her eyes wide as she fought to overcome the speechlessness from what she had just been told as she slowly looked towards Lloyd to see his reaction to how she had been acting then.

"Wh-what?"

"Oh yeah, he has no idea I am here. All he sees is a woman with questionable sanity." another content purr came from Cat.

Now Sheena knew what that expression from Lloyd was, it wasn't nervousness out of what Cat was saying nor was he having difficulty seeing Cat at all. He couldn't see her and couldn't hear anything and all he was seeing was Sheena acting like a fool and pointing towards nothing.

Sheena breathed out slowly in a shaky manner as she looked over to Lloyd, her hand coming up to grab her right hand as her fingers lightly danced over the surface and her index finger traced along the black gem ring. She had no idea what she was going to say, and strangely enough she felt her need to care about what to say slowly fade away. It was then that she realized that the black void seemed to not only consume her sorrow and care, but it was taking every emotion and feeling it could. Her mind thought at least that was one very minor good part, she would not feel the torturous uneasy feeling for too long.

She knew if she was allowed to feel it however, she would feel sorrow for the very idea that feelings that made her human were slipping through her fingers. She wondered absently how long it would take before she was just a husk of her former self. Drained by the hungering void and left as just an empty shell.

"Is everything alright, Sheena?" Lloyd broke her train of thought.

"Hm? Oh." Sheena voiced calmly. "No, don't worry about it Lloyd." Sheena shrugged once.

Sheena noticed the worry spread from Lloyd's eyes to his facial expression as his hand lowered from the back of his head to rest his hand instinctively on the hilts of his swords. Sheena could tell just by his expression alone that he did not know what to say at this moment, it was like his mind was trying to comprehend what she just said.

With the emotions now faded away from her mind she was allowed to realize that tonight was a surprisingly crisp and chilly night as she looked up towards the sky for a moment. The blanket of blackness was lit up with the countless stars that blessed their encounter tonight.

The sound of footsteps against the crunching dirt caught Sheena's attention as Lloyd closed the two paces in between them both. Sheena gave a slight tilt to her head as the young man seemed to be just inches away from her. Sheena did not even feel her heartbeat skip like it normally would just by his brown eyes looking into her own, so this close distance would normally turn her body to jelly. But she did not feel anything close to that, instead she actually felt like this was taking up time. She would hate herself if she remembered how.

"Want me to purr out soft music?" Cat mused from behind Sheena.

'I miss feeling like I used to whenever Lloyd did small things like this.' was all Sheena could think, she did not seem to pay Cat any attention for her comment she made. She tried focusing completely on Lloyd and held a secret hope that maybe if she focused hard enough, that she could force those wonderful emotions back to the surface again. Through all the pain and sorrow she remembered that she had endured since her summoned spirits was ripped out of her body, that she would want nothing more then to experience this moment with Lloyd where it mattered to her.

But nothing surfaced.

"Sheena...I am...so sorry." Lloyd suddenly exclaimed.

Sheena was about to say something, but then suddenly his arms encircled her form as she felt her weight being pushed forward until it was stopped against the young mans chest as her eyes went wide. Lloyd's arms trembled slightly as he held her so close. She could feel a moistness press against her cheek...Lloyd was crying. His fingers pressed against her back as she felt their warmth through the fabric of her clothes. One thing she could tell was how the warmth from his body was pushing away the chill of the moist night air. One of his hands came up to cup the back of her head as she felt his fingers slide through the dark locks of her hair. His breathing was uneasy and his muscles were tense, she felt all that while being so close to him and yet all she could do was blink once and try and look over to the side at the brown haired swordsman. But all she could see was the back of his head as he held onto her, she cursed herself for not feeling anything from this moment. Just a moment ago she could at least feel the sensation of being nervous or scared, now she could not even feel the nervousness she knew that would have flooded her body from being held so meaningfully.

"I failed you, Sheena...I...failed..." Lloyd uttered through gritted teeth.

His warm whisper in her ear still proved ineffective as she could not feel the emotions spilling from his lips as her eyes closed. Sheena thought and hoped deep down that if she willed herself hard enough she would at least feel something...but still, nothing answered her plea.

"I won't give up though. Just stay with me Sheena." he whispered.

Sheena did not know exactly how to reply without making the man feel any worse then the torture he was putting himself through. So all she could do was nod once as she breathed out deeply and stayed in his arms with a secret hope that if she stayed there long enough, that he would be strong enough to defeat this darkness inside her vessel.

'I only start really feeling...empty...when he comes around me.' Sheena had her mind wander.

"I promise..." Lloyd finished, disrupting her thoughts.

-Scene Change-

"Did anyone survive the slaughter?" the regal king of Meltokio addressed.

"None that we know of, your majesty." the knight reported.

Zelos leaned against the pillar with his arms folded as he listened in on the conversation. The knight had gone over in horrifyingly great detail on the ruins of Flanoir and the charred remains that laid in the wake of the cities destruction. All Zelos could understand was that whatever caused such destruction had to be very powerful.

"Lord Regal Bryant, President of the Lezerano Company." announced the guard at the entrance of the throne room.

Zelos' head turned to greet Regal's entrance as he gave a slight smile, but the smile from the chosen for the most part was wiped from his lips at the grim news of Flanoir.

"Regal Bryant, glad you could come on such short notice." announced the King.

"The news sounded dire, your majesty." Regal calmly stated as he walked down the carpeted pathway that led towards the throne.

Regal looked to the side to see Zelos and gave him a casual nod as Zelos returned the favor and then looked back towards the king, keeping his weight against the pillar as Regal stood before the king. Regal placed a hand to his chest and gave a respectful bow.

"It is quite dire indeed, Bryant." The King spoke, the messenger that was previously speaking to the king took a step to the side so he was not disrupting the conversation between the two.

"What has troubled you, your majesty?"

"Flanoir has been wiped off our maps, Bryant."

There was a moment of deathly silence as Regal took a silent but deep breath in at the sudden news that he was just told, his eyes glanced to the side at Zelos. The stern look that came from the chosen was all the confirmation that Regal needed as he looked back to the King.

"Was there any survivors?" Regal wondered.

"No there was not." The King stated with a deep breath, he was about to speak further before the doors to the chamber opened once more.

"Such is not true." came a voice from the staggering figure as he stumbled into the room, forcing four guards to rush forward, one grabbed the man before he fell over and the other three lowered their spears as if preparing to defend the king from the man.

The king instantly stood up from his throne as he stared long and hard down the room towards the intruding man.

Regal turned completely around as Zelos spun his own head towards the entrance, everyone's eyes were wide as the man staggered in. His statement alone held claim that he was a sole survivor of the havoc that had hit Flanoir.

"Guards, let him pass." The King said, lifting his arm to dismiss the knights as the three of them raised their spears and rested it on their shoulders as they went back to their post. The one guard however held the mans arm as he escorted the weakened man towards the throne.

Regal looked down at the man, his robes were tattered and his hair a mess as blood seemed to mar the surface of his once elegant robes. He recognized the man almost instantly as his eyes narrowed just slightly, more in an observing way then anything else. Like Regal wanted to observe and listen to every word the man was going to say, like he would file it away in his mind.

'That is Lord Valemeros.' Regal thought to himself.

-Scene Change-

Sheena sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at the ring on her finger as she seemed to be completely entranced by the beauty of the gem.

"Sure it looks beautiful, but it is very cramped to live in." came the playful purr from Cat.

Sheena suddenly felt the weight of the felines paws against her back as the cat quickly scaled up the purple ninjas back and stood on her right shoulder, looking down at the ring with her. Sheena glanced over to the feline, how she stood there on her shoulder reminded her a little of how Corrine always liked to stand on her shoulder like that.

"Why can I be the only one who hears and sees you?" Sheena whispered.

"Cause you're the one wearing the ring I am bond to." Cat purred casually.

The room was more at peace now, Genis had fallen back in his slumber as Lloyd leaned against the wall in a sitting position but he had actually managed to pass out. Sheena could only conclude that Lloyd had been pushing himself ever since Hima to get her here and now even against his will he had passed out. Lloyd did so much for her when she unconscious and she could not even feel anything for his efforts to keep her safe.

"And how long have you been wounded?" Cat inquired somewhat casually.

Sheena looked back to her right shoulder, were Cat had situated herself, and let those words float in her mind for a moment as she was trying to figure out what the feline meant.

"What do you mean? Thanks to Lloyd, I am relatively unharmed."

"I wouldn't be a guardian if I could not see beyond the physical, ninja girl." Cat closed her eyes in a form of pride as she even lifted her head a little.

"You mean-" Sheena started.

"I mean the very thing that lover boy was weeping to you about. The thing he could not save you from." Cat said in a somewhat stern manner, more of the type of tone as if she was already tired of the game of subtly and decided to just be outright with it.

"Don't call him that!" Sheena suddenly snapped out before covering her mouth, remembering where she was as she looked around the room. None had been disturbed by her outburst.

"Smooth." Cat purred.

"He has a name." Sheena now whispered out. "Lloyd Irving."

"Sounds like a real winner." Cat replied, there was a certain amusement in her tone.

"You have not seen what he has been through, what selfless acts he does for people he does not even know and everything he has done for the ideal of everyone being able to live without conflict...without wars. Lloyd has gone through more pain then any average person would get in three lifetimes. But he continues to fight on...he pushes through them." Sheena looked from Cat over to Lloyd, a tingle stirred deep inside her, an emotion that was somehow surviving the darkness of the void inside her chest as she managed to give a very faint smile. "He is the strength everyone else lacks." Sheena brought a hand to her chest once more, hovering over the weight in her heart. "Like me."

"Oh please..." Cat remarked as she walked along Sheena's shoulder to her left, the shoulder closest to the wall as Cat looked over to Lloyd, he was still resting against the wall. "Could you want him more?"

Sheena felt that little familiar tingle vanish almost instantly as she looked over to Cat with an irritated narrow of her eyes. "Do I have the ability to hit you?" Sheena almost growled.

A light sound that resembled a laughter came from the lips of the feline "Why don't you go ahead and test it for yourself?"

Sheena felt her hand shift at the extended offer, but then thought that the feline would never offer unless it would end up making her look foolish. She eased down and felt that it would probably be best to let it pass this time.

"Since we got that out of the way." Cat commented in a pleased tone. The feline seemed to lean in and sniff at Sheena, which caused the young ninja to lean slightly away from the black cat in an uneasy manner at what she was doing. "You have a noticeable taint to you. This taint has caused a wound deep inside you. What is it?" Cat suddenly gave a sneeze as she rebalanced herself on Sheena's shoulder. "It smells more foul the more I smell it." her little nose shifted as if she was trying to get the smell out, followed by sudden deep breathes out through her nose.

Sheena fell silent for a moment as she realized that whatever had happened to her seemed to create a malefic aura that was detectable by creatures like the feline. Sheena would then place a safe bet that summon spirits could probably detect her wound as well.

"I had the ability to form pacts with spirits. Recently those spirits that I formed pacts with...they got taken from me." Sheena confessed in a soft, almost defeated voice.

"What do you mean taken from you?" Cat wondered.

"There is this man...he placed his head inside and just." Sheena started, her hand gripping closed as if trying to mimic what he did as she tried to find the right wording for it. "I dunno." She struggled with the wording. "He just like...ripped them out of me somehow and stole them."

Cat laid down on Sheena's left shoulder as she placed her chin on top of her crossed front legs, half closing her eyes while listening to Sheena as the feline seemed to at least be in thought.

Sheena let out a light sigh as she lowered her head and closed her eyes.

"Since then." Sheena gave a slight pause. "I have felt like my heart is slowly turning to stone. Like it is actually getting heavier inside my chest. It is never painful...just very noticeable."

"A piece of you is missing then." Cat stated, she figured it was obvious so she said it in a calm and casual tone.

"I guess." Sheena gave a slight shrug.

She could accept that, the entire time she felt this weight inside her chest she always thought to herself that it felt like a piece of her was missing somehow. But it was just so strange to actually hear it from another source. So she just felt like it would be best to just go along with it. She was still trying to grasp the idea that a feline that only she can see and hear is around her.

Sheena felt the feline adjust herself on her shoulder. It honestly did not make her too uneasy since she was used to the small movements and weight placed on her shoulder. Which in turn made Sheena wonder, if the thing was only existing to her...then why would she be able to feel the weight of the small creature on her to begin with?

"I do not know what to do." Sheena confessed in a small whisper.

"Get dumb dumb to realize you want him." Cat purred contently.

Sheena let out a soft, defeated sigh.


	12. Resolve born of a nightmare

Chapter 12

The light of the dawn made an appearance as the beams entered the once silent little house. The light was just enough to make the eyes of a certain brown haired, red jacketed swordsman stir in his slumber as his body gave a twitch, its own rebellion at the threatening urge to awaken.

Lloyd gave a slight groan as he felt the light start to pull him from the nightmare that he had spent the night being subjected to. He was trying to welcome the disturbance so that the haunting would disappear from his mind. But his deep slumber proved to be too overwhelming as a cold chill claimed his form once more.

"Lloyd! Lloyd!" came the cries from Sheena. "Lloyd! Help!"

At the sudden cry for help, Lloyd felt his heart nearly burst as he shot forward from the wall and gave a sudden violent gasp. His own gloved hand grasped his red jacket firmly over his own heart as if he were afraid that it was trying to rip itself out of his chest. His breaths were shaky and heavy as sweat marred his hair. His other hand came to his forehead as his gloved fingers slid through his rich brown hair.

"That was awful." was all he could manage to say.

He felt his nerves quake inside the shell of his body as he slowly pushed himself up to a stand, finding it shocking at how much of a challenge it was on his body. He pushed his back up against the wall so his mind could grasp everything at its own pace.

'What did that all mean?" Lloyd wondered to himself as his fingers slid through his hair completely.

His brown eyes went to the side to look at Raine's bed, where he had last left Sheena. She was not at her spot and when his eyes searched through the house quickly, he noticed that she was nowhere to be seen and even Genis was gone.

Lloyd grunted as his body attempted to warn him to not push it too quickly so soon after all he had done the day before. The wounds and battle it had to endure on a daily basis caused a throbbing pain and exhausting toll to take effect.

Walking to the outside only treated the swordsman to a sight of unspoken horror and heart breaking form of deja-vu as the entire village was engulfed in the flames of destruction. Charred bodies lay on the pathways as the fires claimed their lives. The dry heat caused a sickening fever to swell within Lloyd's chest as he placed a forearm to his mouth, coughing against the choking smog that threatened to wear him down if he dared to breathe in too much.

"You won't find him here!" came the angered yell from Professor Raine Sage.

Lloyd looked over to where the voice was coming from, knowing that its origin was the front gates of the village. Drawing both his swords, he rushed over to find out what exactly was happening and even more importantly, who had done this to the small peaceful village that he grew up in.

The smog was thick in the air as it not only filled his lungs with tainted and grimy air, but inspired an urge to throw up as it held the disgusting taste of the bodies that the fire had been consuming. The smell alone was horrific enough to create a permanent nightmarish memory that would chase his heels for years to come, never mind being able to actually taste the carnage. Lloyd was surprised at how quickly the fire was draining him. It was as if a siren was trying to invite him to just lie down and rest for a while. But he knew that if he did, the smog would fill his vessel and taint him, adding another victim to the flames.

Lloyd came to the front of the village with a deep huff before he realized what he was seeing before him, a sight that made his teeth grind together as he felt the ember of actual hate surface to his heart. His hands tightened around the sword hilts.

'Valemeros!' Lloyd felt his mind scream in anger.

"Nothing is more unattractive then a woman who lies. Such refined and stunning beauty ruined by such a distasteful trait." the noble smirked.

"L-let me go!" Genis uttered as both his hands grasped at the forearm of the noble who held the half-elven boy off the ground.

"I know that wherever the alluring and ample ninja is, her pet swordsman is not far off." Valemeros smirked as he looked over to Sheena's direction.

Sheena held up a yellow seal as her eyes remained locked on the noble, a standstill kept them both at bay as the man held Genis by the throat, using him as a flesh shield. Raine was the furthest back as she kept her staff close to her chest in both hands. Genis' kendama lay on the ground at the noble's feet. He raised his foot up in the air, the robe lifting slightly to show the motion as Valemeros crushed the kendama under his heel, snapping it right in half.

"I would advise heavily that you give me what I seek, or no amount of healing will repair what I will break next." the noble grinned as his fingers tightened around Genis' neck.

Before Raine could say anything however, Valemeros glanced over to the side directly at Lloyd as his sly smirk only widened.

"There...was that so hard?" he mused.

"Valemeros!" Lloyd felt his voice yell as he ran towards the noble to close the distance and make himself the closest so that all his attention was on him. "I am here...let him go."

Valemeros blinked once as he gave a shrug. His hand gave a glow as Genis grunted and the noble released the child as he hit the ground. His breathing was heavy as he groaned; Lloyd knew that his best friend became victim to some form of stunning spell that was making sure to disable him from any fight.

"You destroyed Luin, destroyed the place I called home for so long and you dare to harm the friends I hold close. You're going to pay for all the pain you have caused others. You can never be forgiven." Lloyd said as he gritted his teeth together. He could not explain where the words were coming from. His heart just spoke for him as he gazed upon Valemeros.

Lloyd was about to step forward when a deafening sound rang through the skies that forced him to look upwards to try and see beyond the thick black smoke. The smoke violently parted as the howl from the creature actually caused Lloyd to shrink back and close his eyes in an instinctive manner. His world swirled in the moment it was consumed in darkness, making Lloyd a little more aware of the smell of smog, charred remains, thick blood and surprisingly enough, Lloyd was able to smell the distinct fragrance of misty rain. The red swordsman's eyes opened as he saw what sight was awaiting him.

'Aska!' Lloyd thought to himself. That explained how Valemeros was now traveling around so quickly - he was using Aska to do his bidding.

One of the sacred bird's heads had its elongated neck arched upwards so its beak was right in front of the defiant swordsman. Lloyd could not help but glance over to know the location of the other head, and sure enough it was facing its former master, Sheena. Yellow and red wings were wide spread as Aska took an aggressive stance.

'Sheena is frozen!' Lloyd's mind raced as he noticed the wide frightened eyes of the summoner as she was forced to come face to face with her own summon. The experience must have taken much for her to be able to maintain herself both mentally and emotionally.

Horror claimed Lloyd's body as he could only watch Aska snap out, taking Sheena within it's beak. She could not muster the courage to even move out of the way and it happened too fast for Lloyd to be able to save the purple ninja as she was lifted high into the air for a moment. The scream that came from her lips shattered Lloyd's heart as it raced in his chest.

"Sheena!" Lloyd screamed helplessly.

Aska lifted Sheena high before its head whipped downward and released the entrapped woman as Lloyd watched her body hurl towards the ground, hitting it hard as she rolled next to a building that was still in flames. Lloyd was not even given time to think as he ran towards her, ignoring Aska's head that was facing him and ignoring the laughter from the noble that now pulled the strings of the Summon of Light.

Running up to the fallen ninja, Lloyd kneeled down and scooped his arms around her form as he turned her over and lifted her up off the ground very slowly. She was knocked unconscious, but she was at least breathing and that caused a wave of relief to wash over the swordsman. His eyes now turned to face Valemeros who stood behind Aska. Both heads were now faced toward Raine as she stepped back.

"Raine! Watch out!" Lloyd warned.

"Since I cannot be forgiven..." Valemeros trailed off, catching Lloyd's attention.

Lloyd looked over to Valemeros just in time to see his foot crush down on top of Genis' neck as the sound of the bones snapping and crushing under the impact filled the air. The breath in Lloyd's chest caught as the body squirmed and twitched under the boot before it became still.

Lloyd could not muster the words for the horror that swarmed over him and the entire world went silent as if he suddenly were stricken deaf. The strings of time seemed to snap for Lloyd as everything seemed to shift to slow motion, allowing Lloyd to feel every swirl of emotion that was caused by the wild and rapid whirlpool that encased his heart.

"Genis!" Raine shrieked, as the scream shattered the silence that Lloyd was subjected to.

Lloyd looked over to the professor as she dropped her staff to cover her mouth with her hands, shock and horror written across her face as well as a noticeable paleness that was striking her already creamy features. Lloyd could easily tell she was stricken ill by the effects of instant grief.

The taunting low toned laughter from the twisted noble caught Lloyd's attention, making him look behind the massive bird to look upon the noble. Valemeros gave an arrogant smirk as he lifted his hand into the air and snapped his fingers in silent command.

Aska's deafening screech from its double heads filled the skies once more as both confronted the half-elven professor. All she could do was step back while one of her hands lowered down to rest over her heart as the sacred bird locked its eyes onto her. The energy in the air started to shift and become thick, light particles formulating in the air like dancing fireflies as they started to combine into one sphere.

"Raine...no." Lloyd tried to call out as a form of warning, but his voice betrayed him because all that came out was a weak whisper.

Lloyd was forced to relive the experience of being helpless as he could do nothing but watch as the sphere gathered more light particles and became even bigger. The professor did nothing to try and avoid it and Lloyd could not tell if she was paralyzed in fear or maybe even crippled by the loss of her young brother as she took one insignificant step back. The sphere engulfed her figure before the light pulsed and exploded in a silent burst. For less then a second, a scream was heard and then silenced as the light gave a blinding flash upon its detonation. Lloyd raised his forearm up to cover his eyes by instinct to the burst of white light.

The light faded out as the young man's brown eyes opened just in time to see Raine's body hit the ground and fall instantly motionless as her robes smoldered from the light energy burning through the cloth. Lloyd felt his breath hold as the air caught in his lungs become heavy as lead.

'Raine...Genis'

His body felt like it shattered from the overwhelming emotions bursting out from his vessel as he felt his arms pull Sheena's motionless body closer to him, as if reassuring himself that her heart beat was still strong, that he could still feel it against his own; a reassurance that Valemeros has not taken everything from him.

Her heart continued to beat strong and hard through his jacket and against his own heart beat as he felt his teeth bite into his bottom lip. The gravity of losing a life long friend and wonderful professor was still looming over him and slowly crushing him. The only thing keeping him sane during this loss was the fact that he still had Sheena with him, but he knew that Valemeros would soon threaten to rip that from him as well. He would not let the man do such, not as long as he had a breath running through his body.

The deep, hearty laughter coming from the noble burned into his mind and would be sure to haunt Lloyd for endless dreams to come for as long as he lived. Hearing the laughter throughout the smog filled skies caused his blood to boil hotter then any of the flames around him could. Lloyd took a deep breath of the smoke filled air and did so without coughing for it was an action more of acknowledgment as his body registered the thick smog that filled his lungs. With that deep breath, he was also allowed to take in the sickly smell of charred flesh, the cooking organs of the people that composed Lloyd's childhood, mixed with the burning wood of the houses of the place he considered home for years. He looked around to the consuming flames that spread and blanketed everything in destruction, looking to the smoke that filled the skies before his brown sorrow filled eyes looked down to see Raine once more. The smolders of her robe died out, but he knew deep down that her life was ended as quickly as the light from Aska had died. A tremble and tinkle went through his body while his eyes flashed over to Aska; he never knew that such a noble summon of light was capable of such vast destruction. The bright bird gave a low rumbling, cooing like sound as it looked over to the fallen body of Raine. Lloyd breathed out slowly as his eyes traveled over the body of the bird to its long tail, where Valemeros stood, his foot still over the crushed neck of his motionless childhood friend. The Sages were wiped out in a single moment and Lloyd still couldn't believe it as a diamond hard lump formed in his throat. Looking down at Genis, a reel of split second flashbacks played through his mind while his mind was forced to realize that this was the last time he would ever see them both. Finally his eyes fell down to the unconscious purple beauty in his arms, his hands reaching up to brush the ebony locks covering her left eye. Already her skin was marred with dirt from the tumble. Lloyd sighed out softly as he felt a sting of desperation mix in with his grief, despair, and overwhelming anger.

"Why? Why is this all happening?" Lloyd fumed as he gently placed Sheena down as if she was suddenly made of delicate glass, placing a hand to her cheek, his eyes finally leaving her to look towards Valemeros.

"You do not know by now? This is for Lloyd! It has always been about you!" Valemeros laughed out as his arms spread wide to show off the scene he had painted for Lloyd.

"Dammit! You cannot toy with people's lives!" Lloyd screamed as he picked up the swords he had laid on the ground so he could cradle Sheena. Stepping over her body, he put himself between her and Aska.

"How could you just throw peoples lives away like this? I cannot let you continue doing this. I cannot let you continue to hurt people who have done nothing to deserve it and I cannot let you hurt the people that I care about! No more. It all ends here." Lloyd gritted his teeth as his eyes shot a hurtful but determined glare at Valemeros.

"Hmhmhmhm, you have betrayed my confidence in you, Lloyd." the noble chuckled.

"I don't want to hear anything from you!" Lloyd's grip on his swords only tightened; it felt that the skin over his knuckles would tear from the strain.

"I thought you were smarter than this, to challenge me while the great bird God Aska stares deep into the soul of your being." Valemeros stated.

Lloyd looked over his shoulder one last time so he could look at the last thing he had to protect against the hungering chaos that the noble seemed to spread everywhere in his wake.

"You will hurt no one ever again!" Lloyd growled as he charged forward.

"Foolish sentiment."

Lloyd pushed off the solid ground as he lifted his swords in preparation for an attack. He could see the noble shake his head once as he snapped his fingers, the massive bird stepping in the way to block Lloyd off from a direct attack. Both heads stretched forward and its high pitched screech rang through the air. Lloyd could only cross his swords as light gathered within the beak of the sacred bird, both heads preparing for an attack. Lloyd pressed his teeth together hard, feeling the pain ring through his jaw. He tried to cover the distance as quickly as possible, but the energy was forming too fast as his world became nothing but light.

"Arrrrgh!"

The dark laughter of the noble was all Lloyd had heard before everything went black.

-Change Scene-

"Lloyd! Lloyd!" came an echoed voice.

'Genis? I am hearing his voice again...have I died?' Lloyd thought.

Then his world of blackness shot into instant blinding light as the feeling of being born washed over him. Instant disorientation, confusion, lack of breath and a thundering heart came into play as a loud and hard gasp filled the air.

"Breath Lloyd, Breath!" Raine eased with a strangely calm, almost heavenly voice.

Blurred vision became clear slowly as his eyes opened to see Genis with both hands on his shoulders, gently shaking him still. Raine knelt down, resting her wrists across one knee while leaning forward. Sheena was sitting on the edge of the bed, the lack of life in her eyes becoming alarming to see first thing in waking. But this time he noticed something very different.

'Is that a black cat on her lap?' Lloyd thought lazily.

"Told you lover boy would be fine, just having a nightmare" a strangely alluring voice purred as the assumed female feline looked up to the purple ninja.

Lloyd groaned and blinked once. In the moment that he blinked, the feline was gone, like it was nothing but an image that his sleepy mind had conjured.

"Easy, Lloyd. Easy. You were having some awful dream," Raine assured.

Lloyd felt his heart still hammering as the beads of sweat trailed down his face and one drop even slid into his left eye as it shut from irritation. His body refused to move through its own language of pain that spoke volumes. Lloyd attempted to push himself up through nothing but fear and shock since his mind was still trapped between the worlds of reality and dreams. His body trembled as if it was experiencing trauma from the last thing he had seen, which was Aska's bright light.

"We're here, Lloyd." Genis reassured.

'It...was just a dream? I am so relieved.' Lloyd confessed to himself.

His body continued to tremble as he slowly calmed down, feeling Genis release him when he felt that Lloyd was grasping everything again.

"That must have been one horrible nightmare." Raine confessed as she slowly stood up and folded her arms, now looking down at him. "With everything that has happened, I am not surprised," she finished.

"Are you all right, Lloyd?" Sheena wondered.

Lloyd looked over. The tone with which she spoke was even more different then last night, or better yet, just five or six hours ago. She seemed more apathetic or indifferent, a tone that Lloyd would expect from Raine before he heard it from Sheena. But Raine actually held worry in her tone this time as he was coming to.

"I am...just so relieved," Lloyd confessed as he slowly pushed himself up against his body's rebellion of pain.

"Easy Lloyd," Genis uttered.

"Professor...did you?" Lloyd wondered. He was surprised that the first thing that really entered his mind was his concern for Sheena after the trembling in his body stopped and he realized the horrors were all composed in his nightmares.

"Don't worry, Lloyd," Raine gave a slight smile. That small smile alone stabbed just a little hope in his mind as he breathed out slowly. "I think I may have at least found a way to gain insight on what happened to Sheena," Raine stated in her collected tone.

"What do we need to do first?" Lloyd asked urgently.

"Sheena and I had a long talk over the last few hours and she told me where everything was centered and what exactly she is losing," Raine started.

Lloyd was about to speak before he caught a glance from the professor he had seen before as he instantly silenced himself and waited for her to continue. Years of being her student made it so he knew better than to interrupt her when she was explaining.

"The affliction seems to be centered in her heart and she describes how it is expanding outwards and makes her feel like it is slowly shadowing over her entire body, like a consuming void." Raine stated calmly, but Lloyd could tell that there was worry in her eyes as she explained what was happening. She turned to face Sheena, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. "She is losing who she once was."

"Well, what can we do?" Genis burst out.

"This matter is out of our hands. There is no healing art known to cure such an affliction," Raine replied as she shook her head.

"But Raine! We cannot stand here and do nothing!" Genis cried out.

Lloyd flinched once as the room echoed the sound of a smack that Raine had delivered to the little half-elf as a reminder to keep his calm and hear his elder sister out to the end.

"Did I say we were going to do nothing? I just said that this issue is out of our hands," She sighed with an annoyed shake of her head.

"Just tell me what I need to do, Professor," Lloyd urged.

Raine gave Genis a sincere glance before turning on her heel to face the desperate swordsman. Her arms were still folded over her chest as she gave a slight tilt to her head.

"We are out of our element here. But there is one that just might be able to help us in this type of situation," Raine confessed. The small pause was enough to drive at Lloyd as he did his best to purse his lips, but during the long few seconds of wait he looked over to Sheena as she seemed to be looking down at her lap. Her head shifted slightly as she looked back up to match the gaze in Lloyd's eyes. "Lloyd?" Raine asked.

"Yes Professor?" he replied, turning his eyes back to her.

"Have you been listening?"

"Yes I have."

Raine nodded. He could tell that she wanted to say something but refrained from doing so, probably not seeing this as the time or the place.

"Lloyd, we are going to have to see Verius for the best possible answer," Raine spoke with closed eyes as she managed her calm composure.

"Verius? Wasn't that Corrine?" Lloyd asked, refreshing his memory.

"Regardless if he was or wasn't, the fact remains that Verius is the Summon Spirit of the Heart, which is Sheena's main aliment and the center point of her affliction. Moreover, Verius might know what Sheena is going through because he just may know what happens when summon spirits are forcefully ripped from their host. He may be our best bet," Raine completed.

Lloyd took one more look at Sheena as she kept her eyes on him. They were blank for the most part, but Lloyd could still see the life behind him. That was going to be the life he was determined to save.

"Let's go then...as quickly as possible," Lloyd said in a firm and determined voice.


	13. A researcher's appearance

Chapter 13

"Sheena? What are you doing up?" Raine asked as she looked up from her text book, having retaken the familiar spot at her desk.

"Cannot sleep. Guess I have slept enough." Sheena confessed.

"She never took my advise of eating Advertine leaves, they work very well." Cat commented as she walked into the room, at Sheena's ankle.

Sheena did her best to ignore Cat when she was around others. The last thing that Sheena wanted was for Raine to think that she was unbalanced as well, since it was bad enough that she made a fool of herself in front of Lloyd.

"You did not come here to say that you had trouble sleeping, did you?" Raine observed, asking a question that she already knew the answer to.

Raine was always very insightful and very direct. Sheena liked that about the professor, while at the same time disliking it for its ability to knock her off guard. But right now it was a blessing. Sheena did not want to explain why she was there and because she did not completely know herself, she came to Raine for answers. Sheena knew that by herself, she would never figure them out.

"No." Sheena tried to keep her answers short and to the point. Maybe if she did this then it would force Raine to ask more questions that could help Sheena decide where to start.

"I have been going over what Lloyd has told me about your condition." Raine placed a finger to the text book as if to mark her spot. "It bears resemblance to what happened to Colette and her Angel Toxicosis," Raine stated calmly as she leaned against the hardwood desk.

"But..." Sheena said, anticipating Raine's next word.

"Close," Raine replied. "_However_, yours is progressing at an alarming rate according to Lloyd. I am actually glad you are awake. I wanted to see you for myself," the half-elven professor confessed.

"What do you need me for?" Sheena blinked once as she seemed to advance towards her elder counterpart.

"That's how it always starts! Don't go! Remember that the spider lures the fly into his home and the fly is never heard from again!" Cat warned, her voice raised, but it was easy to tell the feline was just over exaggerating. Sheena ignored the remark and moved towards the desk. "Alright...I warned you." the purple ninja heard her add behind her.

"I just need to hear it from you." Raine confessed.

"I don't know what I could tell you that Lloyd has not." Sheena shrugged.

"Does Lloyd feel what you feel exactly?" Raine confronted.

'Sometimes I think he does.' Sheena mindlessly thought to herself. With a very slight shake of her head she gave Raine the answer that she knew she was looking for. "Not exactly."

-Scene Change-

Valemeros walked out of the King's chamber as he was greeted by the lovely Monique, dressed in a fine crimson sparkling dress that was fit for a nobles escort as she walked forward and looped her arm around the wounded noble. Cecil had been standing off to the side, dressed as a noble's servant, as he stood on the other side of the man.

"How did everything go, m'lord?" Monique inquired.

A sly smirk worked its way onto the noble's face as he continued to press his hand against the side of his body, near the gut. It was a pained smirk, but a victorious gleam was present in the corner of his eye.

"The plans are set in motion. Everything is playing out exactly the way I am wishing it to be." His tone was that of a whispered snicker.

"Lord Valemeros, why have you not seen anyone for medical attention?" Cecil wondered. He kept his head low in a bow like any good servant of any lord would do.

Valemeros actually shot the young man a sharp glare as he took a step back in retreat from the sudden cold gaze.

"Why do you think? If I went to one of the hospitals and got checked by one of the king's court, I would be discovered as a half elf," he sneered as he turned and walked down the pathway, quickly followed by the duo as they seemed to go into an extra protective mode.

"Valemeros, dear. Please come to the manor and rest." Monique insisted with a soft, almost seductive tone to her lilting voice.

"I plan to." Valemeros suddenly smirked. "Going to need to rest well for the next step of the plan."

-Scene Change-

The wind breezed through the tall blades of grass on the open plains as the morning sun seemed to gleam off the dew that still remained from the night before. The wind came from the northern ocean waters as a good morning from nature itself.

"Sheena?" Lloyd cut through the silence that Sheena was trying to relax to.

Her attention snapped from the beauty of the sparkling water as her brown eyes glanced over to where the voice was coming from. She gave a very small smile, but she knew it was completely out of courtesy and not because she felt the urge to smile.

"What is it, Lloyd?" she asked in a hallow tone.

"How are you...feeling?" Lloyd wondered.

"He is very persistent, isn't he?" Cat inquired as she rested on Sheena's shoulder.

'He means well,' Sheena thought to herself as she looked into his worried and troubled brown eyes that locked on her intently. She gave a slight tilt to her head as they continued walking towards the temple closest to Isellia. "I am fine, Lloyd."

Sheena could tell that that statement alone seemed to bother the young swordsman as she saw him bite down on his bottom lip and just look forward as if trying to hold back on saying something. He was calling on his willpower and she knew that, she knew that look too well by now.

"You better get yourself cured soon, you're going to kill the idiot with worry." Cat remarked in a sarcastic, self amused tone.

The familiar sting of annoyance flowed through her body as she looked over her shoulder towards the black feline. She was laying on her stomach and had her chin resting on her crossed front paws with her eyes closed. Feeling the look from the purple summoner, her green eyes slowly opened as she looked right at the ninja.

"He is not an idiot." Sheena snapped lightly.

"Does he know?" Cat gave a feline smirk.

"What do you mean?" Sheena frowned.

The feline stared at her in knowing silence as she only blinked her green eyes once, her gaze giving the 'you know what I mean' feel to it.

A sigh filled the air as Sheena looked to the ground for a moment, her annoyance replaced with the feeling of defeat. 'Great, I cannot feel too much else, but irritation and defeat are two things it decides to let me keep.' Sheena thought to herself.

"Fine." she said in a defeated, but still monotone voice.

"Your lover is going to need an explanation now," Cat breathed out once as she closed her green eyes again.

"What?" Sheena blinked as she thought about it for a moment.

"He cannot hear or see me, remember?" she replied in a tired tone.

'Oh..." Sheena thought to herself as her head slowly turned to face Lloyd, who was now looking at her in a confused manner. She felt herself bite down on her bottom lip as her mind raced to figure out what to say to the red swordsman.

"I...don't feel too well," Sheena remarked, placing the back of her hand to her forehead. At least she did not have to worry about blushing in front of him because that part of her was gone. She hated to lie to him in any way, shape or form, but she knew when she could, she would explain to him at another time.

Sheena fell forward as she felt Lloyd's surprisingly strong arms catch her almost instantly and hold her up. Her mind raced with thoughts, one of them obviously being that she wished with anything in the world that she could actually 'feel' this moment.

"Professor!" Lloyd called out.

"Smart move." Cat purred in a sarcastic manner.

-Scene Change-

"Lord Valemeros," Cecil announced as the noble sat at his chair, "Are you fit for the meeting?"

"Hmhmhm, I assure you that I am quite fine," the noble smirked.

"What about your wounds, my lord?" Monique inquired as she stepped forward, worried.

"Wounds?" the noble laughed as he slowly stood to his feet. "What wounds?" His arms carefully folded over his chest as his head tilted, allowing his long black hair to slide off his shoulders to the side, the dim lighting giving away the very slight purple sheen of it.

"The one that Cecil gave you to make the attack on Flanoir more convincing," Monique reminded, her tone a little more firm, showing she disliked having games played on her.

"Like I said," he walked around his fine oak desk and sat on the edge, "What...wounds?"

Both of his helpful hands gave him a very confused and disoriented look.

"Come now...I can revive you both from the brink of death, you do not think I cannot save myself as well?" he kept the borderline arrogant smirk on his face. "The wounds I kept for show to make my speech more convincing. I obviously compelled the King to believe me a victim over the possibility of having had involvement in the incidents." He tugged gently on the brand new tailor-made robe, which was black with dark rich purple borders and a golden weave of his noble crest on the back.

"Shall we bring in the researcher from Sybak?" Cecil asked.

"Yes...let's." Valemeros grinned.

"I shall get him now." Cecil bowed his head and walked out of the room.

"Excuse me for asking, but why are you meeting with this researcher?" Monique wondered.

Valemeros gave a sly smirk as he walked forward, reaching up to graze the back of his fingers against her chin as she closed her eyes by impulse and leaned into the sudden affection.

"Trust me...he can prove to be a critical part of...the plan."

Seconds after the comment, the door opened as a finely dressed man with a stunningly stern facial structure walked in, dressed in dark colors with long flowing red hair. The dim lighting was quick to catch on the surface of the narrow framed glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose, just below his pale green observing eyes that seemed to already keenly detail the low light room.

"Ah, Richter Abend. One of the most keen minds...and finely dressed of half elves. I am surprised they allow you to appear so...important." Valemeros smirked.

"There had better be a point to the insult." Richter stated firmly.

"Hardly, but there is a point to this meeting. You are as direct as I had heard," Valemeros added.

"And what would this point be?" came the stern reply.

"Hmhmhm, then please...humor me." Valemeros gestured towards the desk.

Richter glanced between Valemeros, Cecil and Monique before glancing out of the corner of his eye to the desk that the noble was gesturing towards. His lips curling into a slight suspicious frown.

-scene change-

Sheena looked around the temple entrance as she gave out a soft gentle sigh and felt her shoulders slump. She thought she would feel some form of emotion when coming to the temple where Verius, the reincarnated form of Corrine resided, but she still felt nothing but a bitter coldness in her heart. That feeling started to really weigh on her as she realized that those she cared for so deeply and fondly could not even stir her. She knew she would cry if she was able to, but the consuming void prevented her from even having that release.

"Let's hope that Verius has an answer for us." Lloyd gave a growl.

"Does he always depend on the help of others?" Cat wondered.

Sheena glanced from Lloyd over to her new feline companion. She let her lips open just a little bit to object, but then started to remember how their adventures were and came to realize that whenever Lloyd seemed to be up against a wall, he required the aid of another force. But that did not make him weak...not in her eyes. Lloyd had the strength to stand alone and felt that he just did not have the pride that she sometimes had in being unable to ask others for help.

"Take that as a 'yes'?" she tilted her head while resting it on the back of her paws.

"Lloyd is stronger than you know," Sheena whispered silently.

"Just a bad first impression then?" Cat purred.

Sheena only nodded as she kept her eyes on Lloyd, he was looking towards the Professor while she seemed to be in thought, her hand to her chin as her lips moved, but Sheena did not hear anything. She was focused too much on Lloyd.

'He used to always turn to Colette when he was disrupted emotionally and now all he has is me. Now I cannot be here when he needs me.' Sheena sighed out.

She watched as Lloyd looked between the Professor and Genis, the two intellectually advantaged beings seemed to exchange words and Lloyd actually seemed to be keeping up, to Sheena's surprise. She did not even know it, but a small smile managed to curl onto her normally featureless face as she noticed.

Lloyd looked from the two scholars to meet with Sheena's eyes and she noticed him staring intently into her eyes. She was so focused on his brown eyes that she did not even hear the words that were coming out of his lips. She watched as he took a couple of steps closer, eliminating the distance between them.

"Sheena?"

Lloyd's tone suddenly came thundering into her world as it shattered her focus as she gave a small gasp and her instinct made her step back. She calmed her beating heart and her eyes blinked hard as she let the shiver of bewilderment pass through her spine, but in all honesty, she wanted to hold onto that feeling for as long as possible. Any feeling stirred by Lloyd she wanted to hold onto, for she did not know when she would next be able to feel anything from him.

"Are you alright?" Lloyd asked in a worried tone.

"Huh? Oh? uh...yeah." she nodded.

"Awww, daydreaming are you? Too cute." Cat purred in an amused manner.

Sheena made the choice to ignore the feline's remark giving a silent sigh outwards as she recollected herself.

"What are we going to do?" Sheena asked.

Lloyd gave a weak smile as he nodded, gesturing towards the temple and placing a hand on her shoulder before he led her toward the entrance.

They walked through the temple, mostly in silence before they managed to get to the lower levels. It was then that the silence was broken by Raine.

"So Lloyd. If this all gets out of control with this Valemeros-" Raine started, but looked over to Lloyd as if to gauge his reaction to the start of the topic that she knew he would catch onto.

"What is it, Professor?" Lloyd asked, but his tone remained calm, almost solemn, as if he already knew what Raine was going to ask.

"Well...I am just thinking that you may need some help," Raine continued. She placed her fingertips against the back of her hand and rubbed it gently, where the exsphere used to be before Lloyd went on his crusade to liberate the threatening objects.

"You are wondering where your exsphere is, aren't you?" Lloyd said, completing her inquiry for her.

"My, I kind of miss when you did not catch onto to even slightly subtle questions." Raine gave the swordsman a small, knowing smile.

"I have had to do a lot over the last couple of years, professor," Lloyd confessed.

Sheena could not help but watch the scene with an interest as the two exchanged conversation. She had to confess that she thought Genis, Lloyd's lifetime best friend, would be speaking to him more than Raine would. But it seemed somehow, the two of them had become more compatible over the span of the two years and seemed more capable of holding a conversation. She did not know how to feel about that one.

"Maybe trying to mature a little too soon, Lloyd. You have taken on the task of the world in you own hands, acting like its caretaker," Raine pointed out.

"Professor...can we...not talk about this right now?" Lloyd asked, his eyes once more looking in her direction as Raine followed his eyes and then looked to Sheena and gave a very slight smile with a nod.

"Of course, Lloyd." Raine ended and turned, continuing their walk.

"We'll have you back to normal, Sheena...soon." Lloyd promised meaningfully.

Sheena gave him a nod as she forced herself to make a smile, but she knew that it was an empty smile and she could tell that Lloyd knew she was just pasting it on. But she knew that he knew that she meant no harm from it and was not trying to be insincere.

It would only be a matter of moments before they were before Verius, the Summon spirit of the heart. They would be able to ask him if there was anything known about what was happening to her and maybe gain any insight on what could happen to her and if there was anything that could happen to Valemeros.

They came up to the entrance of Verius' chamber. Two years had passed since Sheena openly spoke with the summon spirit.

She had made a promise to herself not to return until she felt worthy of returning and gaining the approval of Verius. Now, against her will...she had returned.

-Scene Change-

"So then...Richter. Opinion?" Valemeros smirked as he laced his fingers together and placed his chin on top of his hands.

"You speak of an interesting proposition, Lord Valemeros. But why would you care about the Half-elves and endanger your position as a noble of Tethe'alla? Or why would you care about Sylvarant and its royal dynasty?" Richter inquired.

"Let me just answer that by saying...we both share the same blood lines." Valemeros firmed, the smirk on his face now vanished.

"You mean...you are a half elf?" Richter asked. He knew what the noble was implying, but he could care less for the subtle step around and he wanted to hear it for certain.

"Well," Valemeros shrugged as she looked to the side, "Some of us can hide it better than others. Magic flows through my body quite easily and we all know only those of elven blood can call up the mana for magic."

"So how does this concern you?" Richter inquired.

"Think about it..." Valemeros stared directly back at the researcher, "Tethe'alla believes to be the ruling party over this recently combined world. Which means what? To keep their stronghold they will comb through everything to weed out contradictions to their rule and so...I will eventually be found out. I can hide appearances, but when this foreseeable hunt happens, I cannot hide my blood. Sylvarant is all I have left, Richter." Valemeros narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Hm, you present a compelling case, I can tell you put this together just to appeal to me. You are crafty, as I expect from a noble of Meltokio." Richter stated flatly.

With that, he stood to his feet and turned his back to the noble, starting to walk out of the chambers. Cecil and Monique looked to Valemeros as both their mouths gaped open for a moment, as if taking offense for him. They awaited his command. Valemeros lifted his hand to keep them in place to wait.

"Lord Valemeros." Richter stated suddenly, stopping his walk in mid pace.

"Hm?" Valemeros smirked knowingly.

"If we were to go through with this revolution, and that is exactly what this is, what would we call it?" Richter wondered, looking to the corner of his eyes, looking over his shoulder.

"I leave such a thing to you, Richter."

"Why?"

"This will be your legacy. I shall stay my hand for now...best people not know anything of my involvement." Valemeros stated.

"You realize this won't earn you any trust if you are just sitting on the side," Richter confronted.

"There are more important tasks I need to handle...I shall keep in touch."

"Hmph, predictable for a noble," Richter almost hissed as if he was losing his patience.

"Nothing I say shall convince you otherwise. Just keep in mind what I have said," Valemeros replied to his accusation.

"We'll see." Richter nodded and started his walk towards the door before stopping as his hand rested on the doorknob. "About that name."

"Well...should you choose to take this mantle, I would consider what you would represent, Richter. You would be the voice of those suppressed, the sword of the fallen, the judicator of a lost hope...the front lines of their ideals." Valemeros leans back in his comfortable chair. "You would be the Vanguard of the assault."

"Hm." Richter gave a cold smirk, "Vanguard."

Without another word, the researcher was gone.

"Do you think that he will go for it, my lord?" Monique wondered, placing her slender hand on the noble's shoulder.

"Hmhmhm...it will all go according to the plan." Valemeros could not help but give into his urge to laugh as he lowered his head, letting the near black locks fall over his shoulders as the bangs touched the surface of the desk.

Monique gave a sly smile as she looked to Cecil and nodded, the young man could only shrug as his lord gave to a healthy fit of laughter. But Monique did not care, she enjoyed seeing her lord so content.


	14. The test of the heart

Chapter 14

Note: Sorry it is a little short, my loyal readers. But I just had to end it at that kind of part. *chuckles* enjoy.

Regal walked out of the castle as he looked up toward the sky with a stern look on his face. It had been a good hour before he left the chambers of the king and since then he had been considering where to start in the search for answers as he tried to think of anywhere the red swordsman and purple ninja could be.

"Regal!" came the voice of the Chosen.

The man looked over his shoulder as he pocketed his hands casually and slowly turned to meet with his former comrade in arms.

"You do not seriously believe the things that Valemeros guy was saying, do you?" Zelos said with a frown as he ran up to the mature president.

"Well, I cannot keep anything from my mind just because of personal relations," Regal started. Zelos' expression said it all as Regal shook his head once. "However, I have to believe that Lloyd would not do something so cold," he added.

"Then why did you insist on hunting Lloyd down and bringing him before the king?" Zelos wondered as he folded his arms.

"Think of it for a moment Zelos; if the king does not send me, then he will just send another and this other is not guaranteed to be as understanding or willing to find the truth as I shall be. Something is happening here and all we have are scattered pieces. I need to find the truth behind it all and find out exactly what is happening," Regal firmly stated.

Zelos gave a sudden grin, "We."

"I figured you would want to come along. We have a lot of work ahead of us then, Chosen." Regal said with a nod as he turned and looked back toward the sky.

"So they are both on the run. The question is, where would they go and where do we start?" Zelos wondered as he looked over to Regal again, "And how do we get there? We don't have any Rheairds to travel around in either." He sighed, raising a hand to pull down on his white bandanna so it was in a more comfortable location.

Regal gave a very light smile, "Do not worry about that, Chosen."

"What do you mean? What are you keeping from me?" Zelos asked in a carefree tone.

"The Lezerano company has been working on its projects. Come." Regal stated as he continued to walk forward, forcing the red haired Chosen to follow.

-Scene change-

Lloyd watched as Sheena performed her small ritual to bring the summon spirit forward, keeping his hands on the hilts of both swords as he watched intently. He had been trying his best not to lose himself to his emotions and urges, but it was very hard. He glanced over to Raine and Genis as he closed his eyes for a moment.

If it was not for Raine, Lloyd knew he may have only done rash things without stopping to take a breath. She had made the comment that he was perhaps maturing too quickly and taking on too much, but he could only think of how he had not matured enough just yet. He had lost his head when everything with Sheena had happened.

His brown eyes opened again as Sheena looked up, a flash of light filling the room as it swirled in a bright aura of rainbow before the colors blended together and took on the silhouette of Verius. The light gave a humming, almost musical tune before it flashed once more and the beautiful form appeared, floating in the air before landing gently on four paw-like legs. His bright but pale-shaded blue tails were as enchanting as Lloyd last remembered. The elegant spirit tilted his head when summoned and the bell around his neck gave a light jingle with the motion.

"You wished to meet with me, Sheena?" Verius wondered.

Lloyd looked to Sheena, awaiting her answer before he realized that she was not speaking and just seemed be looking at Verius. The two stared at each other in silence before Lloyd gave a light growl under his breath and was about to step forward, but felt a tug on his shoulder as he looked over to see the Professor. She shook her head gently.

He did not understand at first why the Professor was silently telling him to not say or do anything, but he gave her the trust that she knew what she was doing. He would give this just a few more moments before the itchy feet would become too powerful.

Verius' tails seem to twitch in a repulsed manner as an echoed growl radiated into the room, causing Lloyd to bite his lip as he waited.

"Your heart has been poisoned, Sheena. What manner of being would do this?" Verius seemed to step to the edge of the platform as if to get closer to her, leaning his head forward, just ever so slightly.

"Verius, may I speak?" Raine asked. Lloyd looked over to her when she spoke.

"You may, if it involves the matter at hand," Verius replied. His tone was slightly agitated as he kept his eyes on Sheena.

"We wish to know what happens when summon spirits are ripped from one's vessel. A man by the name of Valemeros tore them out of Sheena and has left her in this condition," Raine explained briefly.

"Impossible. Sheena has formed a pact with the spirits. They cannot be-" Verius stopped in mid- sentence, "But if what you speak is true, then..." he trailed off.

"Verius, you have to help! Sheena is losing herself and every moment that passes she loses even more!" Lloyd burst forward like a volcano as he stepped forward, his hand clenching into a tight fist. If he was not so driven by his sudden emotion, it would be painful on his knuckles.

"Lloyd." Raine whispered.

"Do not silence the boy. His words are spoken from a heart torn as well. Step forward." Verius stated.

The sudden silence in the room allowed for the sound of Lloyd's footsteps to echo in the room as he walked forward and stood beside Sheena. He looked over to the purple ninja as he scanned her facial expression but what he saw only served to worry him even more. Her eyes were almost blank, glazed over with an empty stare at Verius.

Lloyd's eyes shot to the spirit, "Verius, what is happening?"

"Like I said, her heart has been poisoned. She has poisoned it-" Verius started.

"She? No, it was Valemeros that did it when he ripped out her spirits," Lloyd growled.

"The one you call Valemeros served as the trigger for the poison, young man. But he alone could not have the power to do this. Sheena harms herself by rejecting her deepest desire. If what you say is true, then when her spirits were ripped out, one of the things that made her whole and protected her, they are now gone and her heart suffers from her own heartbreaking suppression and now the loss of what she held as her strength," Verius explained as his tails seemed to ease down again.

"I don't...understand," Lloyd frowned.

"That is part of the problem," Verius replied.

"So you are saying it is my fault as well?" Lloyd felt his heart sink a little as he looked from Verius to Sheena and felt a renewed sensation of failure stab into him.

"So then...you are just going to give up?" Verius wondered.

When Lloyd heard Verius ask him such an absurd question he felt something in him snap as he shook his head and felt his anger well in response.

"Never! I am not going to give up on her. I'll do whatever what it takes...whatever the cost." Lloyd felt his teeth painfully press together.

Verius' head turned from looking at Lloyd to Sheena. Silence dominated the room once more as if Verius was considering something. Lloyd wished at this point in time that he could read the silent spirit's mind.

"I have made up my mind," Verius uttered.

Lloyd felt himself hold his breath in anticipation.

-Scene Change-

"What is that?" Zelos wondered as Regal walked up toward his mode of transportation.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder with a very slight smile, explaining briefly,

"It's a project that I have been seeing to personally. It is capable of traveling over land as easily as it can travel over water."

"What do you call it?" Zelos asked as he walked up to the boat size vehicle and gave a light poke to the bottom. It felt like a strange rubber, almost balloon like.

Zelos watched as Regal climbed up the side and onto the suspended frame.

"It does not have a name, besides its project code," Regal confessed as he opened the door.

"Where shall we go first?" Zelos commented as he jumped onto the frame, leaning against the cold metal as he looked at Regal.

"Well, I think we would be best searching for anywhere that could provide Sheena cover. Both are wanted and hunted criminals and one of the only places they would be safe is..."

"Mizuho." Zelos completed.

"Right. We will start there."

-Scene Change-

"A pact?" Lloyd wondered.

Verius nodded as he sat down, his tails arching upwards,

"Sheena used to draw on the strength of the spirits to push on. Now that she does not have that, she is crumbling slowly from within. I could be a very temporary solution."

"You are going to let her pact with you?" Lloyd wondered.

"It is going to have to be earned," Verius replied.

"How?"

"You said you would be willing to do anything for her," Verius confronted, looking to Lloyd.

"Without a second thought," Lloyd breathed out in quick reply.

"Then you must be her strength right now. If I am to deem her worthy, I wish to test the strength of heart from those she has around her. As one of the factors that caused this to happen to Sheena, Lloyd, I shall test you...and you alone." Verius gave a sudden challenging growl.

Lloyd took a step back. He was surprised as he knew what Verius was implying. He felt his eyes look to Sheena, giving out a sigh. Verius was also implying that he had a part in what was happening to her. _He_ had made this possible - he might as well have been as guilty as Valemeros. Lloyd felt the sting of despair sink into his beating heart.

"Stop dwelling on the past, young swordsman. Focus on what you can do now, or you will never be able to help her," Verius interrupted.

"Fine," Lloyd firmed out as he placed a hand on Sheena's shoulder. Her head turned to look over to him blankly as she only blinked once. He had never seen her this way before. She looked as empty as when Colette was being prepared as a vessel for Martel. "Wait. Verius, what is happening to her now? She was fine earlier," Lloyd asked as worry seemed to shake his tone a little.

"Her heart was slowly degenerating through its own poisoning and so I have sealed it with me. Safety measures - I wish to keep Sheena safe," Verius confessed.

"You have her heart?" Lloyd firmed.

"That is correct," Verius answered.

Lloyd did not know what to think. He knew that Verius was just trying to protect her and that he could trust the Spirit of the Heart to watch over her. But seeing the condition Sheena was in now as a result of what Verius did made Lloyd a little edgy. He thought that taking her heart was a little extreme.

"Verius...can you give her heart back?" Lloyd asked.

"No," Verius replied.

That answer was not what Lloyd expected to hear from him. He swallowed hard as his fingers laced around the hilts of his swords tightly.

"Why? Why keep her like this?" Lloyd growled lightly.

"You want me to give her heart back to her? Then you are going to have to earn it. Prove to me that you will do anything for her." Verius stepped off the platform as Lloyd released his swords, placing his hands on Sheena's shoulders, gently pulling her away. She seemed to follow his momentum as he pulled her and then looked to Raine and Genis. Raine stepped forward and placed her hands over his. Her fingers slowly slid over his and gently pushed them away. Lloyd let her as Raine now guided Sheena away, making space for Lloyd and Verius.

"Why are you doing this, Verius?" Lloyd confronted.

"This is your test, Lloyd Irving." Verius said.

The walls of the room started the shimmer as Lloyd looked to the side and blinked – they had begun to turn a shade of blue. Turning around quickly, he could only see the bewildered expressions of Raine and Genis, the blank expression of Sheena. He turned on his heel and ran toward them, but they were engulfed by the shimmering walls and disappeared into thin air.

"Verius?" Lloyd yelled.

"This is your test, Lloyd, and yours alone. Do you have the strength to fight for her? Show me the strength of your heart, Lloyd." Verius remarked as his body gave a faint rainbow shimmering glow.

"Why can't you just help her now?" Lloyd asked, drawing both his swords when he noticed that Verius was taking a more aggressive stance.

"The stronger the heart, the more I can do for her. Sheena's heart is too wounded, too poisoned for me to draw strength from. It must be you who proves to me the power of the heart," Verius growled.

"You can see into my heart, why does there have to be any test?" Lloyd asked.

"It is _be__cause_ I can look into your heart that there has to be a test," Verius replied.

Silence filled the air as Lloyd gave out a weak sigh. The flow of blue shimmering energy from the walls had now claimed the floor and they were surrounded in it. Lloyd knew that there was no way he was going to escape this situation, even if he wanted to. He let out one last deep breath before swiping his swords as if testing his ability to swing.

"I do not understand why we need to fight, Verius. We both have the same intentions in mind. We both want to save her, so why can we not work together?" Lloyd asked in a languishing tone, as the spirit pawed the ground lightly.

"You are too emotionally bound to understand this completely, Lloyd Irving," Verius replied.

Lloyd did not fully understand what he was implying and he could not understand why he needed to fight with him, but what he did know was that these strange circumstances had made it so the journey to the temple had become Lloyd fighting Verius. The stakes were high, as it was a battle for Sheena's heart and a vital step towards curing her aliment - her heart poisoning as Verius had called it.

Sheena was on the line in this battle and Lloyd was not about to let her down again. He would die fighting if he had to, but as long as an ounce of strength passed through him, then Sheena had hope of being cured.

"Verius...I won't lose!" Lloyd yelled out determined.

Lloyd lifted both swords up as he took his own fighting stance, his eyes locked onto the spirit's as he felt every muscle in his body tense. Verius gave a growl and leaped high into the air, darting toward the readied swordsman as Lloyd gritted his teeth while the spirit descended upon him.


	15. Sheena's haunted heart

Chapter 15

'Where...where am I?' Sheena wondered to herself.

"You are safe here, Sheena." came a familiar voice.

Turning to the source of the voice, Sheena saw the elegant and beautiful Verius sitting with his head in a slight tilt as he observed her.

"What is this place?" Sheena asked out loud, realizing her own thoughts could be heard.

The room gave a calming air with a warm sensation as she closed her eyes for a moment and smiled. The once blue room seemed to transform in that instant as her eyes opened again.

"You recognize this place." Verius commented.

It was where she often went just outside the borders of Mizuho, a peaceful waterfall that only she and Corrine knew of. It was her secret place where she would go to be alone in her thoughts. The water cascaded down as it splashed onto the jagged rocks below. There were a couple of times Sheena had tried balancing herself on those rocks and let the life blood of nature shower onto her. But it would get far too cold for her to stay there for long. The spot was a decent climb up the mountain side, a trip not many would be able to take.

Sheena smiled happily, "Oh Corrine, you remember."

Verius nodded, "It is good to see you smile again, Sheena."

"Oh that is right...I can...feel things again." Sheena did not know how else to explain it.

"I freed your heart. You are safe here with me." Verius reassured.

Sheena stepped forward as she felt a wash of emotions that she had not been allowed to feel over the past few days. Lacing her arms around the neck of the summon spirit, she had to muster everything she could so she would not fall victim to tears.

Verius' tails lowered as the spirit sat, "Sheena, why have you been torturing yourself?"

"W-what?" Sheena uttered defensively, letting the spirit go.

"You cannot lie to me or your heart, Sheena." Verius confronted calmly.

A sigh of defeat came from her lips as she turned around to face the pool of water at the base of the waterfall and lowered herself, bending at the knees, as she trailed her fingertips along the surface of the water.

"I...I'm afraid." Sheena confessed.

"…Because you have had your heart broken once before." Verius confirmed.

Nothing but a nod came from the broken summoner.

"Lloyd Irving is far from being Zelos, Sheena." he added.

"I know that!" Sheena snapped a little, but then felt that irritation wash away as quickly as it came, her eyes softening as she looked back to the water, looking at her own reflection. "I...I know that." she reassured herself.

"Do you?" Verius wondered.

Sheena closed her eyes as she thought about what happened between her and Zelos and how she actually trusted him to be truthful, honest and faithful to her. But he could not even do that, not with his groupies always following at his heels. She thought she loved him, but then was betrayed and mislead by her own feelings. Somehow they managed to stay friends through such betrayal and carry on, almost like nothing happened to begin with.

"I do...I know Lloyd would never..." Sheena stalled as she thought about it.

"Your own self-doubts are what is poisoning your heart Sheena. You reject your own wishes so you can be safe. But it has come at a cost." Verius stated.

"I...don't think..." Sheena started, her vision beginning to blur with the threat of tears.

"Sheena...I have protected you always. But I cannot protect you from yourself...unless you are willing." Verius' voice softened, "Lloyd will do anything for you. I do not need to be the Spirit of the Heart to know that."

"Lloyd has always been so self-sacrificing for his friends." Sheena smiled. That was one of the traits she absolutely admired about him.

"Do you think he does this now just because you are a friend?" Verius asked.

Tears fell from her eyes as she closed them. With a small nod from her head, she was about to reply to the spirit before his voice echoed in the room.

"So then...you are just going to give up?" Verius' voice came.

"Wh-" Sheena was about to ask.

"Never. I am not going to give up on her. I'll do whatever it takes, whatever the cost." Lloyd's echoed voice sounded. Sheena's head whipped around to try and spot him.

Verius lifted his right front leg and gestured toward the pool, making Sheena look back in front of her, seeing nothing but the waterfall before looking down. Lloyd was speaking with Verius and they were still at the temple.

"Lloyd." Sheena stalled as she felt her throat tighten, reaching forward to stroke the water. But it only served to ripple the image.

"I ask again...do you think he does this now just because you are a friend?" Verius wondered.

Sheena felt pressure on her lower lip as she bit down on it. The stirring in her heart felt painful, but she could only describe it as being painful in a good way. She felt the heavy weight of need to be there at the temple, to be there...with him.

"You shall need to excuse me, Sheena. I need to focus on the test that I have in mind for Lloyd." Verius finished as he started to fade.

Sheena whirled her head around to face Verius as her heart thumped hard, "Corrine wait!" Sheena exclaimed, but the spirit was gone. "Don't...hurt him." she whispered.

-Scene Change-

"You think he will go through with it?" Monique asked.

Valemeros walked forward as he led the duo into his room, not answering her just yet.

"It was not just by chance that I choose Richter." Valemeros smirked as he looked over his shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Cecil wondered.

The dimly lit room gave a subtle majestic appeal as a breathtakingly beautiful woman floated forward to greet Valemeros. She sat peacefully on a glowing crescent moon.

"Ah..." Monique blinked in surprise. "Who is this?"

"Luna, the Summon Spirit of the Moon, one of the spirits of the light." Valemeros smirked as he walked up to the graceful woman.

A gentle smile crossed her charming facial features as she watched Valemeros walk up to her and place his hand on the side of her head, stroking her hair gently. Luna let out a small, content sound which strangely enough sounded similar to the jingle of a soft bell.

Monique narrowed her eyes slightly as Lord Valemeros showed affection towards this being, a summon spirit. But she kept her silence as she folded her arms and looked to the side, first at Cecil who arched an eyebrow in silent question, who then looked off to the finer details of the room.

"What role does she play?" Monique asked flatly.

"My personal companion, of course. This gentle spirit is capable of vast destruction, but such a fine creature should be treasured and looked after, not used as a weapon." Valemeros grinned.

That answer proved to be a little much as she let out a breath of irritation and turned on her heel to walk out of the room. Cecil lifted a hand as if to try to silently stop her from leaving, but it was too late. She was gone.

"What are your plans, Lord Valemeros?" Cecil asked in his absent partner's stead.

"We wait. Richter will piece together his own little plan and probably find a way to use me to achieve his goal. Meanwhile I could use his efforts and we wait for Mr. Irving to re-emerge. I think I have a way to get him to...accept what I have in mind." Valemeros smirked as he continued to stroke the hair of the beautiful woman.

"How are we going to do that?" Cecil frowned.

"Hmhmhm...Sheena...Sheena Fujibayashi is our key...Always has been."

No answer came back from that response as Cecil thought about it for a moment, allowing Valemeros to continue his delicate shower of affection towards the beautiful spirit. Her eyes closed as if she actually did not mind the attention.

-Scene Change-

The water rippled violently as Sheena swallowed hard, seeing Lloyd lift his swords against Verius. He was fighting for her...for her. He was going to fight to the end to save her. Sheena, who was not used to such dedication and determination, felt a tremble through her body.

A heavy thump from her heart made Sheena gasp as Verius pounced towards Lloyd, but the water rippled once more and the image was lost.

"What?...No...no. Don't do this." She panicked as she leaned forward. She wanted to see what was going to happen, she did not want it to end there. It would only serve to torture her.

"Sheena...babe!" a voice sounded.

Lightning forked up her spine as she sat up straight. Her head slowly turned and she saw who she thought she heard, Zelos.

"N-no...this is not real." Sheena shook her head.

"Look...sorry about everything that happened." Zelos confessed.

Sheena closed her eyes as she tried to focus on Zelos not being there with her, she thought that maybe if she focused hard enough, he would vanish.

'Wait...if Lloyd was receiving his test from Corrine, is this...mine?' Sheena thought to herself.

She slowly stood and turned to face the man, the first person to ever hurt her heart who also served to be a critical part of her training, reminding her that relations with those outside the clan would only lead to pain. She trusted him to not hurt her and he failed.

"What are you doing here?" Sheena snapped suddenly.

The young man flinched, as if he actually felt what she was saying and then mustered the words to respond to her, "I just wanted to say...sorry for everything that happened, you know, between us."

"You've never been sorry for anything before." Sheena replied coldly.

"Ouch, that one hurt." Zelos replied sincerely.

"It's true though...isn't it?" Sheena folded her arms, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Or has it occurred to you that it is taking me this long to come forward and confess this to you?" Zelos admitted. "I did not believe for the longest time that I was in the wrong, but I was...and you did not deserve that."

"I...I know what this is..." Sheena stuttered. "Corrine, this won't work...this won't give me closure!" Sheena screamed suddenly, trying to fight back her tears.

"Who...are you talking to?" Zelos wondered.

"Shut up...just shut up!" Sheena pleaded as she covered her ears.

"Sheena, just listen to me...if anything I did, hurt you deeply…" Zelos uttered weakly.

"SHUT UP!" Sheena suddenly screamed.

She breathed out deeply, her breath shaky as she fought back the urge to cry. But Zelos was gone, like he was never there to begin with. Sheena breathed heavily as she lifted a hand to her chest and rested it above her breast, as if trying to still her rapidly beating heart.

A whisper suddenly came, "She certainly is not one of us,"

The sound tingled her ears as she turned her head to face the source. The scene had changed. She was back in Mizuho, looking at those who lived in the village with her.

"Wha-" Sheena uttered.

Another voice came, "She's not normal."

"It's her fault the chief is in a comma."

"She does not belong here."

"She dares walk among us?"

"Stop it...stop it..." Sheena whimpered as she covered her ears.

"Sheena...I'm sorry." Zelos reappeared among the crowd.

"The chief is gone cause of you!"

"I cannot forgive her!"

"Why...why is this happening?" Sheena felt her body begin to tremble.

"Exile her!"

"Please...stop..." Sheena whispered.

"Sheena...I did not mean to cause you so much pain."

"No more..." she pleaded.

"Volt did this because she was weak!"

"Weak!"

"Not of us!"

"Please stop this!" Sheena screamed in distress.

"Forgive me." Zelos whispered.

"It is all your fault."

"You brought this upon us!"

"The chief would still be with us had it not been for you."

"This is not your home."

"LLOYD!" Sheena suddenly screamed.

The voices echoing in her head came to a sudden silence as Sheena held her head between her hands, trying to block out the voices. Her body trembled before she felt a pair of arms circle around her form. The warmth that spread through her body was incredible as she whimpered once, her brown eyes slowly opening.

"I can protect you...if you'll let me." Lloyd whispered to her, holding her close.

Sheena felt tears well up in her eyes as she looked up to him. The trembling was still present in her body, but it felt much different from before. This time, it was of hope, when before she was claimed by trembles of despair.

The feeling that Sheena was experiencing was something she had never felt before in her life as she was held by the red swordsman. Nothing in her life could compare to what was filling her heart at this moment. She could only give a small nod as her cheeks reddened while looking up into his meaningful brown eyes.

"Will you...let me protect you?"

Breathing stalled for a moment as she stared into his eyes. Her lips parted to respond.

-Scene Change-

Richter walked along the streets of Meltokio as he made sure to eye the guards that walked by on their normal patrols. Martel forbid that any half elf should be out in public. Many would figure that the worlds being united would bring enough tolerance, but that was asking far too much from such a limited mindset of a civilization.

"Richter!" called a voice.

The man turned to face the greeting as he looked down at the blonde haired, seemingly innocent young man before him.

"Emil, you followed me?" Richter frowned.

"You left in such a hurry," Emil confessed. "I was worried, that's all."

"Do I strike you as someone you should be worrying about?" Richter confronted.

"Well...uh...no." Emil sighed and looked down.

A sigh came from the red haired researcher as he looked down at the young man. "Emil, look at me." Richter demanded.

The green eyes of the young man looked up toward Richter's.

"Do not waste time worrying about what you know shall be fine. It is a good way to start underestimating people. We cannot have that, can we?" Richter asked passively.

"I guess not." Emil confessed. "So what is going to happen now, Richter?"

"Hm. Well there has been an interesting proposition, Emil. A noble seeks to use me as a tool. I was about to reject his offer, but then I figured it out. Perhaps this noble shall become the tool in the end." Richter nodded once as he turned and walked off.

"Uhh...I don't completely understand." Emil frowned, before noticing that Richter was already walking off. "Hey Richter! Wait!" He called as he ran after the researcher.

-Scene Change-

"Y-yes." Sheena replied to Lloyd question as she found her arms sliding around his frame, holding the young man as close to her as she could "I need a place to belong," she whispered.

Verius' echoed voice came, "You are ready."

Sheena's brown eyes opened suddenly as the sensation of falling became overwhelming but before she could react, her world snapped to black as her fall came to a sudden stop.

A gasp filled the air as Sheena's eyes burst open, her heart pounded wildly as she felt light headed and dazed. Her sights tried to comprehend what was happening, but all she could see was that she was still in the temple. Two hands grabbed both her arms, one seemed smaller than the other. Her bewildered eyes looked to both sides. Genis and Raine were trying to keep her steady.

"Sheena!" Genis blared in surprise.

Her knees threatened to buckle, but Sheena felt her own stubborn determination keep her upright with the aid of the two half elves. Her eyes turned from the two to look forward. The sight she saw confused her. Lloyd was down to one knee, his eyes closed. His swords lay on the ground at his sides, his hands still gripping the hilts. There was a glimmering rainbow shaded beam of energy connecting Verius' head to Lloyd's.

"Wh-what is happening?" Sheena managed to ask.

"Verius has had Lloyd in a trance since their battle started. He said he wanted to test Lloyd and he has had him in a trance since then. This is probably Verius' test for him." Raine stated.

"Then Lloyd was successful, right?" Genis asked.

"I don't know about that, I think it is still in progress." Raine replied.

"But...Verius said he would not release Sheena unless Lloyd proved to him the worth of his heart, and Sheena is right here." Genis said, letting the summoner go.

"But he has not released Lloyd." Raine commented.

"Lloyd." Sheena whispered as she watched the sight.

An itch went through her nerves as she bit her lip, stepping forward one pace before she felt the hand of Raine on her arm tighten a little bit.

"We do not know what Verius is doing, disrupting it could have unknown results." Raine warned.

"I...don't care about that." Sheena said boldly as she pulled her arm free and stepped away from the two, closer to Lloyd and Verius. "LLOYD! WAKE UP!" Sheena screamed.

Lloyd's eyes suddenly snapped open as the beam that originated from Verius' forehead faded. Lloyd gave a sudden gasp, pushing himself to his feet. He seemed to be in the same shaky state that she was in just moments ago.

"Your heart is stronger than even you know, Lloyd Irving." Verius remarked, sitting down as his tails swooshed in an invisible breeze.

Sheena felt her nerves jump when the first place Lloyd looked to was her, his eyes easily finding hers as he locked on them completely. Such a tingling flush of warmth washed through her as she felt a blush start to warm her cheeks, forcing her to look away from him.

The sound of footsteps echoed as Sheena forced herself to look back to Lloyd. He had managed to cover the distance quickly, dropping his swords to the ground with a shattering clang. Before she could even respond, he held her firmly in his arms. Her eyes became wide. This was not a vision induced by Verius; this was real and she knew it. She felt it.

His heart hammered in his chest. She could feel it against her own as the warmth of his cheek against the side of her head welcomed her and enticed her to be consumed by his embrace. The light scent of rain and forestry was strangely potent when she took in a deep breath. Her body trembled in his arms before she focused enough to calm her nerves, her eyes slowly closing as she leaned against him.

"Thank goodness...you're back." Lloyd whispered.

Now that Sheena was able to calm the shaking in her own body, she realized that Lloyd was shaking very slightly, his hammering heart only confirming what he was experiencing. He was afraid. Sheena knew this sign of his by now. Two years of traveling with him gave a keen insight to the swordsman known as Lloyd Irving.

"Thanks to you...Lloyd." Sheena managed to confess. "You never gave up on me."

"I won't ever...give up on you." Lloyd replied softly.

"Aww, and the couple lived happily ever after." Cat purred, as she sat on Raine's shoulder before turning her head to look over to the white haired professor, "Right?" she smirked, then blinked and looked forward again. "Oh forget it...you can't hear me anyway."

"It is not over yet." Verius commented.

Sheena felt the arms loosen from around her body, and in her mind she pleaded for him not to do so. She needed this moment more than she would allow herself to confess.

"Sheena will still need help. So with that said, summoner…" Verius spoke out, "Make your pact."

Sheena felt her eyes shoot open as she looked to Lloyd first and then over to Verius, stepping away from the warm arms and welcoming body to face Verius.

"W-what?" Sheena asked bewildered.

"Make your pact...Summoner."

Taking a deep breath, Sheena gave a small smile as she prepared to make the pact.


	16. The noble's deal

Chapter 16

Lloyd did not know what to do. The things that Verius made him see during his test of the heart was enough to send the young swordsman's mind reeling and scattering for answers. Verius gave him quite the bit of insight, but that insight only led to questions that he had no answers to. But one female that would hold those answers for him walked by his side as they made their way back to Iselia.

"Professor." Lloyd spoke out suddenly.

"What is it, Lloyd?" Raine asked; her head turned to meet with Lloyd.

"What was it that you wanted to ask me earlier?" Lloyd had remembered that Raine was leading onto something in the temple and he had an idea of what it was, but he was not going to jump to any conclusions.

Raine gave him an awkward look, her eyes scanning him for a moment and then looking to Sheena, her eyes then shifting to the side to look at Genis as she waved her hand lightly. "Oh do not worry about it right now, Lloyd. I will ask you another time."

"Alright." Lloyd answered quickly as he gave her nod.

He could not help but set his eyes on Sheena once more. She was walking and her eyes were looking right in his direction. He pretended not to notice at first, but he had noticed that she was looking at him almost the entire time since she made the pact with Verius.

"How are you feeling, Sheena?" Lloyd asked, hoping that she was not getting tired of that question, for he had asked it of her several times since she had returned.

Sheena replied with a small smile, "I am fine, Lloyd."

Lloyd nodded once; he would have to ask her later on why she kept staring at him. But he did not wish to ask that now in front of Raine and Genis. He wanted to make the trip safely to Iselia and then get settled back in. Maybe then he would pull her aside and ask her when it was at night time.

They managed to get to the village and life seemed to move about as it should. Their peaceful entrance however was disrupted by the call of one of the villagers, in Lloyd's direction.

"Lloyd!" he called as he closed the distance with a dash.

"Is something wrong?" Lloyd was quick to ask, due to the man's need for haste.

"There was someone here asking around for you." The man replied.

"Any idea who?" Lloyd wondered. He knew he was being hunted and charged for the crimes of Luin, so it would not surprise him if they were checking his home village.

"Dunno, but by the way he was dressed…I would have to say it was someone from that stuck-up Tethe'alla bunch. He had long black hair and these very dark purple eyes." The man started to explain.

A cold tingle went up Lloyd's spine as he realized who was just there; the man responsible for everything that was happening, Valemeros. His muscles tensed with a hatred that he had not felt in a long time. That man had dared to come to his village. Scenes of his dream flashed back to him and his face started to go pale. If he did not lead Valemeros away from the village, then the events could very well happen to them and to…Sheena. His eyes looked over to the purple ninja as she looked right back at him, but her eyes were filled with worry. She was worried how he would take this news and he knew it, he knew Sheena too long now and was able to gain an insight into her expressions and looks.

"Valemeros." Raine uttered under her breath with a hint of resentment.

"Sheena, let's go." Lloyd declared, nodding to the beautiful ninja as she gave a nod back. "Where did he go?" Lloyd asked, turning his gaze upon the villager again.

"After he learned that you left with the rest, he said that he might as well give you a hero's welcome at the front gates." The villager pointed off to the direction of the front entrance of the village.

"Lloyd, what shall we do?" Genis asked as he looked up to his life-long best friend.

"Wait here." Lloyd replied in a stern tone.

"But Lloyd!" Genis pleaded.

"Lloyd is right, if Valemeros is as strong as Lloyd said he was, then we would only get in the way without our exspheres." Raine stated in a calm manner.

"Be careful, both of you." Lloyd heard Sheena comment to both of the half elves.

Lloyd knew that Sheena would follow right behind him, so he did not need to look over his shoulder as he drew both his swords, running through the village to get to the entrance as fast as possible. He did not wish to leave Valemeros alone too long; he did not know what the noble did for boredom and did not want to risk what he would do if he got bored of waiting for him. He ran to the front of the village, seeing the figure along the forest line even before he left the village. He looked over his shoulder for a moment to look over at Sheena who followed behind in silent movement.

"Be prepared for anything," Lloyd called. His heart pounded hard as he remembered what happened last time the both of them fought Valemeros. He had given Sheena a crippling internal scar on her heart and almost stole her away from him. He could not bare the thought of Valemeros doing that again.

Leaving Iselia, Lloyd came to a cautious walk as he slowly made his way to the tree line of the nearby forest. Sure enough the figure stepped out from the shadows to be illuminated by the sun.

"Valemeros," Lloyd growled as he gripped his swords tighter.

"You bastard," Sheena cussed in an aggressive tone.

"Hmhmhm, didn't make me wait too long, I like that." Valemeros grinned, folding his arms over his chest as he tilted his head, letting his black hair fall slightly to the left, covering half his face.

"You'll pay for everything you have done, Valemeros." Lloyd huffed out, positioning his swords, crossing the blades together while placing his right foot forward, getting ready to dash forward.

"You know, I was going to wait for you to resurface, but then I figured I would gain your attention." Valemeros arched the eyebrow that was exposed as his fingers lightly tapped against his left forearm. "Consider these underlings…very fortunate that they saw you recently and promised your return." His tone sent chills through Lloyd's spine as he narrowed his eyes intently.

"What were you going to do?" Lloyd asked in a tone filled with dread.

"Hmhmhm, let us just say that this little outlet in the corner of the world would put what happened in Luin and Flanior to shame." The arrogant noble grinned as he uncrossed his arms and casually pushed his hair back over his shoulders, putting it back into place.

"You son of a-" Lloyd growled as he pushed off his right foot, quickly closing the distance between himself and the noble.

Lloyd slashed downwards at the chuckling noble who did not even make any effort to avoid the blow. The steel of the sword slammed against an invisible field as a wind whirled to life, surrounding Valemeros as he only laughed. The gust of wind blasted Lloyd's sword with such ferocity that it sent him off his feet and crashing to the ground with an unexpected grunt.

"Lloyd!" Sheena screamed. His eyes quickly glanced over to her, seeing her pull out a seal and let it shimmer with an energy as copies of it circled around her. Gusts of wind were quick to dispatch them as she covered her face with a soft toned grunt of her own. The winds acted almost like blades as her seals were torn to ribbons, reduced to confetti.

Small, taunting, high pitched giggles were heard as Lloyd shot his eyes forward to see Sylph, the three tiny and mischievous spirits of wind, floating out from the darkness of the forest. They circled around Valemeros as the wind shield became visible to the naked eye. The three spirits continued to circle the noble.

"Sylph." Sheena whispered in a pained tone.

The three spirits kicked up the loose dirt around the noble, forcing Lloyd to close his eyes, covering his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his red coat. But even doing that, the coughing and hacking filled the air from both Sheena and himself. The dust was quick to clear however, allowing Lloyd to open his eyes and look to where Valemeros had been, but he was gone. His eyes instinctively shot towards Sheena. He did not wish to fail her again and let that noble get his dirty hands on her. She had lifted her own forearm to cover her mouth and nose from the invading dust.

The laughter of the noble guided Lloyd's eyes skyward to see him floating there in the air, surrounded by the swirling wind energy that seemed to give a thicker current which made a platform of gust under his feet. He was manipulating Sylph's control over wind to glide through the air.

"It's that way isn't it, Mr. Irving?" Valemeros grinned as he gestured towards a certain direction.

Lloyd pushed himself to a kneel as he looked up to Valemeros, staring directly at the noble as his eyes narrowed for a moment. Glancing into the direction where he was gesturing, his mind quickly raced on what he was implying.

"What?" Lloyd asked, feeling the grip on his swords stretch the skin over his knuckles.

"Hmhmhm, I shall take that as a yes. I just consider it so rude to deem someone my enemy without knowing EVERYTHING there is to know about them. Allow me to introduce myself to your shorter father." Valemeros grinned, looking down at Lloyd.

'Drik!' Lloyd's mind panicked as the nerves under his skin flared, "Don't you dare!" He growled as he pushed off his feet, his eyes focused on Valemeros. Seals shot over Lloyd's shoulder, heading towards Valemeros. The Pyre Seals burst on contact, but the swirling gusts of wind only consumed the flames while Lloyd swiped, but found himself out of range. Valemeros laughed amused as the little wind spirits lifted him high up into the skies and carried him over the tree line and in the direction of Lloyd's home.

Lloyd landed back on the ground, breaking then impact of the fall by landing in a crouch. The swords thumped against the hard dirt as Lloyd could only heave out in anger. His body trembled to compliment the anger that was welling up in his body. Sheena placed her hand tenderly on his shoulder, but even though he knew that she was there, his eyes remained were Valemeros disappeared to.

"Lloyd, come on; let's save your father. We can end this once and for all…together." Sheena whispered down to him. Her lips were closer to his ear as she placed her other hand on his other shoulder. Grabbing his jacket, she gently guided him back to his feet, but he did not need much encouragement to rise. Her voice had managed to calm him enough to think straight, allowing him to remember the Rheaird that was right by the gates of Iselia.

"Right, we can catch him and prevent him from doing anything to anyone…ever again." Lloyd replied as he looked over his shoulder at Sheena. He felt her fingers slowly slide from his shoulders as she gave a determined nod. He could tell that she was far from angry; she was profoundly worried. Not that Lloyd ever questioned it, but he knew from that moment on that she deeply cared for his well-being and that was all he would need to keep himself going. "With you…Valemeros does not stand chance." Lloyd stated in a determined tone as he turned on his heel and walked towards the location of where he concealed the Rheaird.

The sight that he saw only stabbed a dagger of sorrow into his heart; the Rheaird was thrashed and there were evident parts of the machine scattered along the ground. The front plating of it was peeled off and the engine that converted the mana into energy was dismantled.

"No…" Sheena whispered in a low tone. "It will take hours before it can be functional again." Lloyd felt her hand on his shoulder once more; she was trying to keep him at ease. He knew that.

"We have no time to spare then." Lloyd stated gruffly.

He knew that it would take too long to get to Drik in time on foot, but he could not let that cripple his strength right now. He could not give up, if not for himself, then for the dwarven father that had raised him like his own.

Lloyd ran through the thick forests, quickly picking up the trails that he used every day to get to Iselia, knowing which pathways offered the least chance of running into monsters. The last thing he would need to slow him down would be the wild, ravenous beasts.

"Lloyd!" Sheena yelled sharply.

Her arms wrapped around his body as he felt all his running momentum stop, his feet leaving the ground as Sheena jumped up with him in her arms. The ground that Lloyd had been standing on exploded. Lloyd landed on the ground in a crouch, feeling Sheena's arms loosen around him as she stood to her feet.

"My my, how many times have you saved this young mind; I find it very enduring. Cecil, what happened to the days where it was the man that saved the woman?" A playful sigh filled the air. Lloyd narrowed his eyes as Monique and Cecil stepped out from the cover of thick brush. The staff that Monique held shimmered with a radiant light, showing recent use of magic.

"I don't have time for this." Lloyd growled, reaching over to grab the hilts of his swords. But the feel of Sheena's hands on his forearm stopped him as he glanced over to her.

"Go. I'll hold them off," Sheena whispered as she pulled out a seal with her free hand.

"Sheena…I don't want to leave you behind." Lloyd replied in a whisper, casting his glance back to the duo that stood before them.

"I believe the whole 'Man saving the woman' is a thing in the past now. Quite the shame." Cecil chuckled; they both wore their Design gear as Cecil pulled free his flat, single-edged sword.

"You're going to have to this time, Lloyd," Sheena whispered back to him. "Please, you will never forgive yourself if you cannot save Drik and I cannot bear the thought of you tearing yourself up if Valemeros is not stopped." Sheena breathed out, stepping in front of him as she kept her eyes on the two.

"Sheena…" Lloyd breathed out, worried.

"Lloyd…Please." Sheena begged.

"Argh…I'll come back as soon as I can. I'll come back for you." Lloyd promised.

It tore him up inside to force himself to turn and dash onwards. He could hear the voices behind him as they exchanged their quick banter before he knew they would engage in their heated battle.

"The day of the gentleman is truly lost for now it is the woman who fights for the man." Monique sighed in an over-dramatic manner.

"Stop, I won't let you chase after him. You want to get to him, you'll have to go through me and I don't see that happening." Lloyd heard Sheena call out in a confident tone.

'_I'm so sorry Sheena…I'll come back…I promise._' Lloyd thought to himself, making the promise to her. He then made a promise to himself as well, '_Valemeros, this will end…today._' His eyes stared forward as he dashed through forest, ducking the low branches and leaping over the roots, drawing his swords as she noticed the sudden thick brush that had grown over the years he had been gone. Not wanting to lose any time, he sliced through the vines with little effort.

Lloyd looked to the skies when he cleared the forest; he was looking for black smoke, the sign of havoc and destruction. He did not want to see it, but he needed to face the possibility of the worst, knowing Valemeros had the travel advantage. Monique and Cecil already lying in wait for them meant that he had this planned.

No black smoke existed in the skies.

The small glimmer of hope was quickly replaced with dread as the flash of his dream where Valemeros had taunted him by having Genis under his foot before delivering the final snap gave Lloyd the grave and dark thought that maybe Valemeros was 'playing' with his food before he decided to finish the task, waiting for Lloyd to appear so he could watch the horror that the noble could cause.

Lloyd rushed across the plank that led to his home; everything seemed to be at peace. But he knew that looks could be deceiving and that Valemeros' destination was Drik's house. Rushing to the door, he pulled one of his swords out of its sheath and pushed the door open, ready for any gruesome sight that he believed the sadistic noble capable of.

Drik stirred slightly from his spot, looking to the door as he seemed surprised to see Lloyd standing before him again. He slowly stood from his spot behind the anvil, placing his hammer down carefully.

"Son? What ya do'in here?" Drik wondered, arching an eyebrow. Drik would normally give Lloyd a warmer welcome, but he noticed how flustered he was and so the visit was not for personal reasons.

"Father!" Lloyd breathed out, his eyes darting around, "Did anyone come here recently?" His eyes locked onto his father's.

"Naw, lad. No one has come here." Drik frowned, stepping forward as he looked up to his son. "What's troubling ya, son?" Drik gruffly asked. Worry was locked in his voice but it was not easily shown in the tone he used.

'_Valemeros is not here? He had plenty of time to get here. If he is not here…then why did he…' _Lloyd wondered, but then the thought hit him like a brick to his face. '_Sheena!_' his mind blasted out in a yell. Valemeros had preyed on Lloyd's need to protect those close to him and added the needed desperation that would make him leave Sheena behind against two of Valemeros' henchmen.

"Oh no!" Lloyd yelled as he twisted around and raced through the yard and down the plank that led back to the forested area.

"Wait Lad!" Drik called after, but Lloyd did not turn. He had to pretend that he did not hear it at all for he needed to get to Sheena as quickly as possible and make sure she was still safe.

Lloyd raced through the forest, tripping on a root that caused him to smash his knee into the unforgiving wood of a nearby one. A lash of pain shot through his body but Lloyd ignored it and pushed himself onward. He was quick to push himself to his feet and continue his desperate dash, going back to the location where he had left her behind. Lloyd managed to get to the spot, but no combat was taking place and worse yet…Sheena was nowhere to be seen.

"Sheena!" Lloyd screamed, waiting for a reply as he breathlessly heaved out. He staggered to one side and pressing his hand against a tree to try and regain himself from the strain of his constant sprint. "Sheena! Answer me, please!" Lloyd yelled, a lot louder this time.

"Yell until your throat breaks, Mr. Irving," came the dark tone.

Lloyd felt his spine tingle and anger swelled up inside his chest; he twisted around and was face to face with Valemeros. He was sitting on an uplifted root, casually drinking from a canteen of water. He gave a sly smirk, resting the canteen on his lap. Lloyd drew both swords as he gritted his teeth together; he placed weight on his right foot, ready to strike.

"I would hold your steel, Mr. Irving, unless you wish to never meet your dearly beloved ninja woman…ever again." Valemeros grinned as his eyes locked on Lloyd's, whose hands gripped his swords.

"What have you done with her?" Lloyd growled, feeling a certain illness in the pit of his stomach. Slowly he released the hilts of his swords, pushing off his right foot to stand upright.

"She is safe. You have no need to worry about that, Mr. Irving. I would not harm such a stunning beauty…well, not in this case." He confessed, relating to what he has already done to her. "But if you wish to keep her as such…well that is your call." Valemeros shrugged, looking up towards the tree tops, as if he was having a nice casual conversation.

"Where is she?" Lloyd growled out, his eyes locked in a deathly glare.

"You can see her again. However, these blessings do come at a price. For me to release her, you Mr. Irving, have something that I have wanted for some time now." The half elven noble kept his head angled upwards toward the top of the trees, but his eyes now looked at Lloyd's, locking onto his gaze as he grinned.

"What?" Lloyd stated. A sickening taste was invading his mouth at what he might ask him to do, but Lloyd did not care what the price was; he would do anything to make sure that Sheena was brought back to him and then they both would repay Valemeros…for everything.

"Your little journey has been quite famous as well as infamous in many parts of the world." Valemeros started, like he was about to tell a story.

Lloyd instantly felt sick as he realized what it was that Valemeros was going to ask and he was not sure that he could betray everything he had fought for and everything he believed. He felt his eyes narrow as his teeth painfully pressed together and his hands were quick to ball up into fists.

"You want the exspheres," Lloyd felt his voice hiss.

Valemeros chuckled as he pushed himself off the root and gave the young man a wink, "You got it," Valemeros smirked.

"Forget it." Lloyd growled.

"Ah ah, such a hasty choice." Valemeros chuckled. He walked up close to Lloyd, figuring it was a huge risk to be played on his part, but Lloyd knew he had to stay his weapons for Sheena's sake. Until he knew more about where she was, he would not risk losing her again.

"Sheena." Lloyd uttered out, trying to gain more information on her.

"Exactly, consider what saying 'no' means. You will never see Sheena Fujibayashi ever again." Valemeros grinned as he nodded his head, snapping his fingers as the hyper giggles erupted around him. The Sylph spirits came out from different directions as they swirled around Valemeros and engulfed him in wind, lifting him up from the ground. All Lloyd could do was helplessly watch as the man left through the top of the forest and out of his sight.

When Valemeros was gone, Lloyd's knees buckled as he crashed to the ground. Tears started to well up in in eyes as he punched into his leg over and over again, frustration and agony swirling through his mind and body. He had failed her, he left her behind when he wanted to be there for her and now she was gone. Tears fell down his cheeks as the sorrow of loss spiked awful pains through his conflicted heart. He did not wish to give the power of so many exspheres to a man that probably had devious plans for them. But he had Sheena in his grasp and he would not release her until he got what he wanted.

'_I'm…so…so sorry…Sheena…_' Lloyd cried. He had promised Verius that he would always protect her and he had said he would do anything for her, but now she was gone and there was an ultimatum for her release. It was up to Lloyd to regain her.

The pain started to cripple his body as he fell to his side. He could only focus on the fact that he had failed her; once more he had failed to protect her from Valemeros. How could he ever consider making promises to those that mattered most to him if there was no way he would be able to keep them.

'….I'm….so…..sorry…" his mind whispered to him once more.

The only thing to keep him company in the forest was his anguish and the tears that never stopped falling. He had failed.


	17. The prison cell for a ninja

Chapter 17

Sheena awoke with a sickening dizziness to her head, making her moan as she brought a hand up to her head as if gently stroking the surface would rid it of the severe throb of pain.

Without even opening her eyes, she knew she was in a place that was surprisingly warm and was laying on something that was actually delightfully soft. She felt like she was resting in one of the high class hotel suits in Meltokio. Maybe everything was just an awful dream and the ambush from Valemeros did not happen.

Realization hit her harder than the throbbing pain in her head as her eyes shot open, pushing herself off the bed. She went right into observing mode as she let her eyes dart around.

She _was_ in what could be considered a high class hotel. The drapes over the window were covered over with fine silk, the bed she was in actually had surprising give, the sheets felt like they were made of velvet and the carpets had a lovely golden-weave design. The fire crackled in the hearth and even the noble drinking tea completed the scene.

'_Wait._' Sheena felt her mind stab, narrowing her eyes as she focused on the noble that was sitting by the fireplace; he was lying back in his chair, lifting a cup to his lips as he took a silent sip. The burning fire cast a light on the ebony strands of hair, revealing faint traces of purple that melded with the black as his self-amused purple eyes looked at her intently.

"Please." He gestured to the chair opposite the small table that held the tea pot on a silver plate. A spare glass and even a small stack of cookies waited beside the steaming ceramic pot. Valemeros gave Sheena a greeting smile as he lowered his hand to rest on his lap. "Join me for a drink, will you? Such an experience can be so taxing." His tone was actually warm and passive.

But she was not going to be fooled by that. She gave a light growl under her breath, sliding to the edge of the bed and pushing herself to her feet, finding out too late that was a bad first mistake; the pain of her head pounded with the movements required to stand. She groaned once more and placed a hand to her forehead, trying desperately to ease the pain. She gained a brief flashback of what had happened when she was last awake in that forest.

-Flashback-

Sheena leaped over Cecil as he gave a violent swipe, twisting in midair as she slapped a seal on the back of his helmet, landing gracefully into a crouch. It was good that she did; Cecil had swiped forward and then twisted his body to give a horizontal back slash that missed Sheena. Placing her hands to the ground she pushed her body up, kicking her legs first to feel her foot hit the flat of the man's steel. The chanting of Monique could be heard and Sheena knew she had to stop her from completing the spell. Flipping her legs forward while Cecil was knocked off guard, Sheena landed on her feet, spun around with a kick to slam her foot into his helmet as Cecil grunted and lost complete balance, hitting the ground hard. Her eyes darted towards Monique, reaching behind her to pull out the tanto that was concealed in the knot of her pink bow, throwing it towards Monique as the woman keenly shifted her staff in the way. The tanto clanged off the metallic surface of her golden staff as her chanting continued. Energy fizzled in the air as bright burning white orbs manifested around Monique, shimmering to life as they started to swirl slowly around her body.

"Light Barrage!" Monique yelled as she pointed her staff at Sheena.

The orbs came to life, all of them zeroing in on Sheena's location. Monique was even ignoring the fact that Cecil was on the ground and could be caught in the spell as well. Gritting her teeth together, Sheena darted forward, reacting off of nothing but pure survival instinct. She found herself dodging, weaving and easily sidestepping the orbs as they hit the ground, exploding on contact. Sheena placed a hand over her mouth and nose while the dust started to cloak the area. Leaping out of the dust, knowing she could use it as a smoke screen, she jumped over Monique and landed gracefully behind the woman.

"What?" Monique gasped as she tried to turn around, swiping with her staff.

Sheena kicked her foot up, slamming against the golden staff and knocking Monique off guard as she staggered. Twisting on one foot, Sheena managed to follow up her defensive kick with an offensive kick off her other leg. She felt her foot connect with Monique's helmet as the woman dressed like a Design screamed in protest and hit the ground on one knee. Pulling out another seal, she threw it down as it stuck right to Monique's back.

Leaping back, Sheena waved her hand once as the seal on Monique's back and the one on the back of Cecil's head started to glow red. Two explosions filled the air again as both of them screamed in pain and the sound of their bodies hitting the ground was heard from the newly risen dirt.

Giving a slight smile, Sheena gave a nod as she looked in the direction that she knew would lead her to Drik's house and reunite her with Lloyd.

"I'm coming Lloyd." Sheena whispered to herself.

"I'm sorry, going to have to cancel those plans." Valemeros' voice suddenly echoed in front of her.

Sheena's eyes shot forward; the smokescreen of dust quickly cleared, revealing Valemeros. He already had a mass of burning purple shaded energy in his hand. It went out toward her, too fast for her to be able to dodge, but it did not help that he also gained the element of surprise on her as well. The orb hit her chest as the energy snaked over her body and bound her in shimmering binds as it sent shock waves through her body. She could not even scream as it tortured her before the binds burst, sending her flying through the air. Her world flickered and threatened to fade to black. The only thing that she knew she could feel was the agony of her nerves and the dull pain in the back of her head; she was sitting against a tree. The force of the blast must have slammed her into it and the blow to her head was going to do her in.

Valemeros looked over to Monique and Cecil as they slowly pushed themselves to at least a kneeling position before he looked over to Sheena. The last thing she saw was him walking up to her and kneeling close to her, his whisper echoing in her mind before she blacked out.

"Nothing personal, dear ninja."

-End Flashback-

Sheena rubbed the back of her head painfully, giving one more groan before she could recover enough to glare at the man sitting in the chair. Valemeros casually lifted the cup to his lips and took a small drink before lowering it to the saucer as it lightly clinked against the surface.

"Why am I here?" Sheena started, subtly sliding her hands along her ninja tunic, trying to find the seals that she drew from.

Many of her party, including Lloyd, thought that she had an endless supply of them and he once questioned a few years back on where she kept them all. Like she could ever keep that many on her person, her tunic would be so bulky. She had primary seals hidden along it and by touching them, produced a copy of the primary seal which allowed her to draw a seemingly endless supply. But her primary seals were gone; she had to try very hard to keep the expression of surprise from her face. Her tanto was left behind in the forest and now that she had no seals, all she had was herself to depend on; she was not sure that would be enough to fend off Valemeros.

"Do not bother," Valemeros assured her, waving his free hand, "I had Monique remove those seals from your attire." He smirked casually.

A strange sense of relief washed through her at that remark. Not that her seals were removed, but at least it was another woman that had removed them from her body. She let out a small sigh and gave a small confirming nod.

"What? You thought that I would have been one to do such a deed? Please, that would not be very gentlemanly of me, now would it?" Valemeros waved his hand carelessly.

"I still would not put it past you." Sheena hissed.

"Fair enough, we have not even been properly introduced." Valemeros chuckled.

"I don't have any interest in introducing myself to a monster who slaughters innocent people." Sheena snapped back in a cold tone. "What do you want with me?" she demanded.

Valemeros gave a small smile as he nodded, taking one last sip from his cup before setting it back down on the saucer, placing it on the silver serving tray. He placed both his arms to the chair as he pushed himself to his feet and then walked towards Sheena, making her take a defensive stance, for whatever it was worth…even if it was just for appearance.

"When I said it was nothing personal-"he started, but Sheena felt the overwhelming urge to interject on that statement before he completed it.

"That means nothing. It just means that it was not personal for you. But this is damn sure personal to me, so don't try and smooth talk by saying that it was not personal." Sheena snapped quickly, staring directly at Valemeros to show she was not backing down.

"Fair enough," Valemeros nodded. "It was never about you, Sheena…all I need is for you to play the bargaining chip to Lloyd Irving. He does not strike me as the type that would give in to torture so I could not gain the information that way…then you came along." Valemeros smirked.

"What…do you want?" Sheena was hesitant to ask for she had a feeling deep down on what it was that he would need to force Lloyd by using her against him. But she wanted to be sure and she needed to ask a question at least, distracting her from the fact that she would be used against Lloyd; that idea made her heart drop.

Valemeros lifted an exsphere in the air, keeping it between his middle and index finger as the gem was quick to catch the light of the fire and become a radiant glow. Sheena instinctively looked at hers, only to realize it was gone. She was disarmed of her Exsphere as well, making escape even harder as she realized that being his captive looked to be the only thing left for her.

"You and Mr. Irving have been wandering throughout the world, collecting these little enhancing gems and from all the places you both have visited over the years, I would say you have more than enough…to equip an entire army." Valemeros grinned.

"An…army?" Sheena felt her nerves become weaker. She was even starting to feel faint. If this man was successful, then she would have helped pressure Lloyd into building this noble's army and probably taking a very huge progressive step in his plans.

"I see you do not deny how many you both have collected. You could save me the time you know." He causally walked around Sheena; she could only stare forward at the crackling embers in the fireplace as she followed his movements by the soft sounds his footsteps made against the refined carpet. "Tell me where he put them…and I promise you, I will bring you back to Iselia, where you can be with Mr. Irving." Valemeros commented, placing both his hands on Sheena's shoulder, sending a chilling tingle down her spine when she felt his hands on her. "But do not think you can mislead me, I will claim the exspheres…before I even consider letting you go." Valemeros stated firmly.

Sheena remembered very clearly where Lloyd was keeping the Exspheres. He wanted to make sure that they did not harm anyone ever again and so he had to find a spot that no one could get to or stumble across. Lloyd and Sheena both agreed to put the Exspheres to rest atop the mountain where they had come across the Linkite nut tree, the place where they had met Aska for the first time. A mountain that no one could scale seemed to be the perfect place to preserve the Exspheres. Lloyd said he would feel too guilty just dumping them in the ocean where they would never be found because they were still the lives of humans at one point in time and so he felt they deserved a proper place of rest. Sheena could not help but remember how she put Lloyd's mind at peace by giving the Exspheres a Mizuho style funeral and reassuring him that they would find a peace.

"I don't know." Sheena uttered, lowering her gaze to the floor.

"Surely you jest. You cannot tell me that you've travelled with Mr. Irving this long and do not know where he has been placing them." Valemeros confronted, removing his hands from her shoulders as he walked around to her front.

"You say I cannot tell you that, but I am." Sheena suddenly hissed.

"Hmhmhm, so be it. Let's see whose fortitude breaks first…because you and I both know that Lloyd will eventually crack and he will give me what I want. The question shall be, are you lady enough to spare him the agony of being without you?" Valemeros chuckled as he wiggled one finger, turning to the side and starting to walk out of the room.

Sheena was about to protest, but she was cut off when she watched as Valemeros walked right through the door and was suddenly gone. Rushing to the door, she pulled on the knob. Predictably, it was locked.

The feeling that struck her heart was awful; she honestly would rather be heartless than have this deep feeling of sorrow enter her heart at knowing that she was now being used against Lloyd to gain something that would be used to bring even more death and malice to this world. She also knew that Lloyd was probably tearing himself apart right now and she was not there with him; she could not be there for him when he needed her.

Lloyd could also not be there for her; she wanted to express so much to him.

"Verius…please…help me." Sheena whispered as she placed her hand over her heart, "I need you." She added in a pleading tone.

Sadly, no answer came.

She looked around for Cat; even her wily remarks would be a boost to her morale right now. But she was deeply saddened to realize that she did not have her company either. Looking to her ring finger, she was shocked to find that it was bare; Monique had even taken the ring from her.

She was alone.


	18. Reunion through banishment

Chapter 18

"Lloyd…Lloyd!" Raine's voice shattered his dark sleep.

His eyes opened slowly as he woke up in Iselia once more. Raine was hovering over him as she gave a relieved smile and sighed out once.

"Thank goodness." She stated.

"Mmm...How…did I get here?" Lloyd asked. Reality had yet to fully come in on him.

"You came here on your own; you looked so sickly and weak and passed out right after we ran to you, Lloyd. What happened?" Genis stated in a worried tone. He was sitting on the side of the bed, beside Lloyd, looking down at him.

"Wha…" Lloyd was about to reply, then it all came crashing down on his memory as he was sent down the whirlpool of emotions when the memory of Valemeros and his offer came to the forefront of his mind. "Sheena!" Lloyd exclaimed in a near scream as he pushed himself up to a sit.

"She wasn't with you." Raine answered, trying to keep a calm and collected tone to her voice.

Lloyd's heart thumped painfully as he remembered the scene and tears started to well up in his eyes already as he pressed his teeth together in a painful pressure. His hands trembled as he found himself a victim to the swirling mix of anger and sorrow.

"Valemeros…has her." Lloyd stuttered, feeling a tear escape, becoming too heavy to be contained in his eyes.

"Oh no…" Genis shook his head slowly; he wished he could say something more. At least that is what Lloyd could tell by the manner in which he trailed off from that simple statement.

"What does he want?" Raine asked flatly.

"Raine…" Genis uttered in a low tone, as if silently asking for some compassion for the situation.

"If he has her…then he wants something from either her or Lloyd. He already has her Summon Spirits, so I cannot imagine what else he would need." Raine thought over, thinking out loud. Raine was ignoring her brother's tone. "It is something you have that he wants." Raine stated to Lloyd, looking down at him. "Cannot be your exsphere, he would have just taken it. Has to be something you can either do or have knowledge to."

"Raine…please." Genis sighed sadly.

"It's….okay Genis." Lloyd got out in a shaky tone, wrought with sorrow. "Exspheres…he wants all the Exspheres that we have collected over the years." Lloyd confirmed, closing his eyes as more tears fell down his cheeks.

"And probably not for anything good either." Raine nodded, folding her arms over her chest as she closed her eyes in thought.

"I failed…her…again…" Lloyd whispered, more to himself than to anyone as he could not help but have the darkness of his sorrow start to consume him. "Luin…then Flanior…now Sheena…I failed them all." Lloyd felt himself losing to the grip of pain as he leaned forward, gripping the bed sheets tight in his fist. "If only…I had been...stronger." A tear filled whimper escaped his throat as he thought of all the lives lost and the life that mattered most to him…gone.

"Lloyd…no…" Genis frowned.

"How could I even live with this!" Lloyd suddenly screamed, slamming the palm of his hand to his forehead, causing Genis to vacate the bed as he stepped back.

"Lloyd, stop! It wasn't your fault!" Genis replied desperately.

"No matter how hard I try…everyone keeps dying around me." Lloyd uttered out, shutting his eyes tight as every muscle in his body started to cease.

"Genis…leave." Lloyd heard Raine demand.

"But Raine…what about Lloyd?" Genis whined in worry.

"You are not going to help the situation…leave." Raine demanded in a sterner manner.

The patter of footsteps almost escaped Lloyd's ears; his focus was on everything that could have been prevented had he been strong enough to stop Valemeros. He also could not stop thinking about how he failed Sheena again, after he promised himself that he wouldn't. He also promised Verius that he would do anything for her and it still was not enough to save her. The images of a laughing Valemeros swirled wildly in his mind, along with the thoughts of all the people he slaughtered, the scarring images of Luin and Flanior in ruins, and even worse, images of Sheena that were being consumed by a darkness that he could not prevent. "No…No…" Lloyd cried, gripping his head with both hands.

The world suddenly snapped to, like he became very acutely aware of his surroundings. Something was pulling him out of his thoughts, disrupting them as he felt arms slide around his body, his mind raced as he pictured Sheena holding him close, pulling him from the darkness. But when his eyes opened, he realized that it was not Sheena; it was Raine. She had leaned over and pulled him close to her, resting her head atop his.

"Lloyd..shh…please." came a surprisingly gentle tone.

Raine had never held Lloyd like she was now, but then again she had never held Lloyd or even Genis in any way. She was always so distant and professional, as if she had to be the mother of the entire group; but now she was acting the role of a mother in a different sense.

Lloyd could not focus on Raine for too long however; his mind was causing havoc and his thundering heart was coursing pain through his entire body as his muscles continued to tremble in sorrow.

"Lloyd…stay with us just a little while longer. You have not failed Sheena." Raine whispered.

That statement actually managed to calm Lloyd down, just enough to center him a little more, but his body still trembled and Valemeros kept entering his mind the entire time.

"You would have to give up on her to fail her…have you given up, Lloyd?" Raine whispered softly, even tenderly as her hand gently stroked his back.

"I…I…" Lloyd whimpered, he could not muster a reply.

"The Lloyd we all know would never give up, even when things are at their hardest. You would push yourself and everyone else forward. Lloyd, you were our strength when we needed it the most." She confessed, reflecting on their journey together, "Now it is time for us to be here for you when you need us most. Do not give up Lloyd…ever."

Lloyd leaned his head against the Professor's shoulder, but no matter what he did, the tears continued to fall. His grip remained hard on the bed sheets as he tried his best to calm his breathing, feeling the risk of hyper-ventilation close in on him.

"You place the weight of the entire world on your shoulders; it is easy to blame yourself when things go badly Lloyd. You are harbouring the pains of others and even taking responsibility for something that you had nothing to do with." She continued to whisper, relating to how he boldly took on the task of collecting the Exspheres. "Just never forget the cause of the pain…it isn't you. Stop blaming yourself for it all. Remember the face behind the pain and the one causing these fires of chaos." She whispered, stroking his back gently.

When she said that, Lloyd could not help but picture a blazing fire. From the heart of the flames came the silhouette of a figure, moving closer and closer, walking from the flames and into his vision. When she told him to picture the face behind the pains of those who had lost their lives and suffered, he saw it for the first time.

Valemeros came to the front of his mind.

Lloyd let out a small gasp, feeling his heart stop for a moment as his body shivered and a shaken breath came from his lips.

"That's it Lloyd…please…focus, stay with me." Raine whispered still. Her tone was so soft, so caring and so endearing. It sounded nothing like how a professor would sound; she sounded like someone who cared.

Lloyd focused on Valemeros in his mind as the noble smirked and extended his arms out, gesturing to the flames that surrounded him "This is all for you, Mr. Irving." Valemeros laughed.

"Never forget, it is important to notice the pain of others, but do not let it consume you. Do not take responsibility for what you couldn't do and focus on what you can." Raine stated in a soft tone, stroking Lloyd's hair gently.

Lloyd continued to focus and it was then that Lloyd was able to accept everything that happened and managed to quell the flames in his mind, leaving only the noble. "People would still be alive…had it not been for you," Valemeros' haunting tone echoed in his mind.

'_No...even if I was not here, then more would suffer…and more will suffer…if I don't do anything._' Lloyd's thoughts rang back in reply.

"You failed her once again. I feel so sorry for a man unable to protect those he cares for. Not the mark of a true gentleman." Valemeros laughed in Lloyd's mind still.

Lloyd felt his resolve falter at that remark; he was losing his strength.

"Lloyd, stay strong. We're here for you." Raine's voice entered his mind. She was still whispering to him and her words were able to reach him.

_'Valemeros…as long as I breathe…you won't win._' Lloyd argued in his mind while continuing to battle the inner demons that threatened to consume him in a pit of hopeless despair.

"I've already won, Mr. Irving." Valemeros smirked.

'_I WON'T GIVE UP ON HER!_' Lloyd's mind screamed.

Valemeros' image shattered and Lloyd felt his eyes burst open as he let out a gasp. Tears continued to fall down his face, but his heart began to calm and his muscles started to ease slowly. His breath was shaken, but it was there.

"Lloyd?" Raine asked, slowly releasing him from her embrace.

Lloyd could only breathe out as he closed his eyes, but in a calm fashion this time.

"Lloyd?" Raine repeated, sounding a little more desperate.

"I'm alright, Professor…I'm…thank you." Lloyd uttered, almost breathlessly as he opened his eyes again, looking to the side to meet the eyes of the worried half elven woman.

"Oh…thank goodness." Raine sighed as she stood up, making distance once again between the two of them.

"I'm sorry…" Lloyd stated as he looked to the side.

Raine shook her head slowly and gave a small, relieved smile, "Lloyd, you certainly have been trying to mature too fast. But because of that, you have taken on more burdens than any average person would dare to challenge. You are strong in so many ways. Do not forget that."

"I guess…I have." Lloyd confessed.

"It is important to take on some blame when needed, that is a significant step to becoming an honest and remarkable man, but do not take on more blame than you need to. You will only hurt yourself and those that care for you." Raine reassured, giving a small smile to comfort him.

"It's just…hard to figure out sometimes." Lloyd confessed, his brown eyes slowly rising to meet with Raine's pale ones.

"I know it is Lloyd, but this is one of the challenges that face you. You'll figure it out." Raine commented, folding her arms over her chest.

"Valemeros…" Lloyd huffed out once.

He was about to say something else, but the extended hand of the Professor caught his attention as he looked up to her, seeing her smiling face.

"On your feet, Lloyd…Someone is waiting for you to be there for her, she needs you now more than ever." Raine stated in a confident tone, inspiring Lloyd as he gave her a nod and took her hand, letting her pull him back to his feet.

"Right…" Lloyd nodded.

The door opened as Genis came in, looking flustered as he held a paper in his hand.

"Uh…guys…we have a problem!" Genis panicked.

"What is it?" Lloyd asked as he eyed the paper, extending his hand to accept it from Genis. The sight he saw made him sick to the bottom of his stomach.

"Oh dear." Raine sighed out, covering her mouth with her hands.

Lloyd looked down at a picture of himself with Sheena beside him. It was very well drawn and surprisingly accurate. It was official now, with these papers even reaching the small village of Iselia; he was now a wanted man for the slaughter in Luin and Flanior. Sheena was also scarred by it, being wanted for the same crimes as him. There was not anywhere that neither he nor Sheena could be safe ever again. The blood of countless people was now stained on their hands because of Valemeros. Looking over his shoulder at Raine, her pale eyes looked from the paper over to Lloyd, only giving a small smile of support; she did not need to say anything.

"L-Lloyd, the village mayor is on his way over here." Genis warned as he looked over his shoulder, expecting a knock on the door at any moment.

"I guess that means that my welcome has been far exceeded." Lloyd commented, almost too casually as he handed the paper back to Genis. "I need to go anyway; I have to start with what I do know." Lloyd nodded to Genis and then looked to The Professor and nodded.

"Let us come." Genis volunteered.

"I do agree with Genis, we could help you Lloyd." Raine confirmed.

Lloyd shook his head slowly in reply and gave a slight smile. "You have already done enough. I need you both to stay here. I will come back if I have to."

"Lloyd, you don't have to do this alone." Genis enforced, feeling a little antsy on his feet.

"I'm not alone, I realize that now. Just trust me; things will go a lot faster if I do this part on my own." Lloyd remarked.

"Alright Lloyd, just come back safe." Raine replied, stepping forward as she handed him a small cloth.

Lloyd took it and blinked once, but then got what Raine was implying. He wiped the salty streaks from his face and nodded once, turning around to start his way toward the door.

'_I walked into Iselia broken…now I walk out strong._' Lloyd thought to himself.

Lloyd walked out of the house and sure enough, the Mayor was just passing by the wooden fence, followed by a mass of villagers. He pointed to Lloyd.

"You, young man, have caused enough trouble for our village." He stated loudly. Last time there were at least some people who opposed the bold statement, but this time it was followed by a rally of voices that agreed. "I should have just told the knights that you were here." He threatened.

"Why didn't you?" Lloyd casually replied. He seemed to feel a strange sense of tranquillity, despite the situation before him.

"Consider it a last act." The Mayor frowned, hearing the man's tone of reply. "But when you leave the gates of this village, don't ever consider coming back. This time, you will stay exiled forever."

Lloyd nodded once as he walked toward the crowd and they parted to let him pass. Numerous mutters and whispers were heard, but Lloyd did not make the effort to hear what they were whispering among themselves about him. He was escorted the entire way out of the village, not even glancing back.

Looking toward the sky, Lloyd breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. Valemeros was taking everything from him and he had to find a way to put a stop to it once and for all.

"Valemeros…I'm coming for you…and I won't give up." Lloyd said aloud in determination. The image of Sheena flashed across his mind and his heart thumped once painfully. '_Sheena…just hold on a while longer, I'm coming for you. I will find you and bring you back to me._'

"Never did like that Valemeros." A voice of a playful tone came from Lloyd's right side.

His eyes darted to the side and the sight he saw made him smile just a little as he turned to meet the source of the voice.

"Zelos…Regal…what are you doing here?" Lloyd asked.

"The gorgeous Zelos makes his appearance." Zelos winked playfully as Regal gave a greeting nod.


	19. A trapped ninja, a cornered feline

Chapter 19

"I figured this would happen." Cat sighed out as she licked the back of her paw.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Valemeros replied, arching an eyebrow at the black feline that sat on his table.

"My Lord?" Cecil wondered.

"Shh." Valemeros replied in a more aggressive tone.

"One too many comments and I get sold to a vendor. Now my ring is on the hand of some noble," Cat replied lowering her paw as her striking green eyes looked up to the Lord. "Let me get one thing straight here, fancy pants. I am no muse or pet, so do not treat me like either."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Valemeros responded as he smirked casually.

"Oh no, you're the arrogant type, aren't you?" Cat blinked, noticing the smirk that crossed the noble's face and detecting his tone as such.

"Lord Va-" Cecil started, confused at who he was speaking to, but instantly became silent as he felt the stabbing pain of an elbow jam into him. Groaning as quietly as possible, he looked over to his right to see Monique glaring at him, reminding him to be quiet with a hard elbow to his ribs.

Valemeros arched an eyebrow in a knowing manner, "You should not concern yourself with me, but with who you once used to be."

Cat blinked once before looking to the side and giving a wide, bored yawn, "No clue what you are talking about, I am a guardian." She purred.

"You're a prisoner," Valemeros boldly confronted as he stepped forward and placed both his hands on the table, looking down at the black cat. "The gem is a little cell that you are bound to, meaning it is a prison for eternity…unless you repent and break the imprisonment. I have done my fair share of study, my black furred beauty." Valemeros scoffed.

"Good for you." Cat huffed out once, still looking to the side.

"Guardians are not bound to rings the way you are, they use them as a focus. In your case it sounds like you are trapped here, the same way a mage would trap power within the bounds of a ring. So…who did you piss off?" Valemeros grinned as he instinctively reached over to his right hand and started to fiddle with the ring.

"I piss off a lot of people, hard to keep track." Cat retorted, glancing once at the noble.

"No, no. Who did you…" he started, before looking down at the ring for a moment and then looking back to her "…_really_ piss off?" Valemeros grinned.

"If you are implying people get imprisoned for pissing others off, then you are working your way into a ring of your own very fast." Cat replied, her lovely green eyes narrowing in irritation.

"How would you like to earn your freedom? I can guarantee it." Valemeros smirked as his head gave a slight tilt. "How is that for starters?"

Cat's ears stood up instantly as she turned her head so she was facing him completely. Her eyes seemed to scan his and held a heavy energy of suspicion while doing so. The fact her claws came out just a little told Valemeros that he was now speaking her language. The fact that speaking of her imprisonment was enough to get a rile out of her meant he was on the right track.

"What do you mean?" Cat demanded, keeping a controlling tone.

"It won't even take that much effort on your part. The fact of the matter is that you were not sold to a vendor; I have Sheena in my estate as we speak." Valemeros chuckled.

"Cute, so she gave my ring as a promise ring. What happened to the idiot?" Cat wondered while her tail swished casually from side to side, sliding along the top of the table.

"Hardly, she is my key to the door that only Mr. Irving can open." Valemeros scoffed, shaking off the implication that the feline was heading towards.

"The key to…" Cat frowned as she arched an eyebrow, lifting a paw as if waving him off. She shook her head and sighed out, "Whatever little fetishes you, her and your 'Mr. Irving' have, leave me out of it. I was just making conversation."

Valemeros felt an itch of irritation surface as he leaned forward, closer to the feline. He could tell that she was gaining a minor form of amusement from the situation. "Listen well, I'm only going to say it once." Valemeros demanded.

"Then in that case, the answer is 'no'; I wasn't listening to begin with." Cat purred.

"You're going to smart mouth me the entire time and not even listen to your options?" Valemeros frowned, still leaning in close to the feline as she looked up to him with an amused gleam in her eyes.

"Sounds like a plan." She continued to purr, lifting her chin in a defiant manner.

"Fine, then I will just be out with it. You want your freedom from this ring. I have the means and the solution. Mr. Irving is still out there and I have my own plans to be rid of him when I get my hands on those exspheres. But should the young man prove to be more tenacious or resourceful than I am taking him for, I want to know his movements, his thoughts, his plans. One thing I never do is underestimate a foe." Valemeros stated firmly. Cat was looking at him while he was talking, but even he was not sure if she was paying attention.

"So you want me to play a spy," Cat confirmed. "I do not do other people's dirty work."

"Not even for your freedom from this ring?" Valemeros smirked, tracing his index finger along the gem. "Returning back to your true form?"

"You don't have that type of power." Cat rolled her eyes, unimpressed.

"Try me." Valemeros grinned.

Cat looked deep into Valemeros' eyes, giving a small tilt to her head. The moment of silence passed as Cat felt her ears fold to the back of her head. She was getting a little agitated that he was just staring at her.

"Give me the name of the one who imprisoned you," Valemeros demanded. "And I will get you freed."

"Even if I gave yo-" she started to reply, before being cut off.

"The name." Valemeros demanded in a more firm tone of voice.

"Maxwell…" Cat replied in a low tone, as if in distain.

"Now we're making progress. It just so happens that Maxwell answers to me now; you want your freedom, I can command it to be done." Valemeros smirked, making Cat's eyes go wide for a moment, before she regained her composure. "But give me any more attitude or refuse my offer and I can also see to it that Maxwell never, _ever_ lets you out of this prison for as long as you can exist." Valemeros threatened boldly as he nodded once. "Got it?"

Cat's eyes narrowed at how quickly she seemed to lose control over the situation. She obviously did not expect Maxwell to be bound to anyone and worst of all, bound to the arrogant, smirking bastard that stood before her.

"Got it?" Valemeros insisted.

"I heard you the first time." Cat hissed, feeling her fur stand slowly along her body in annoyance.

"Good. Let's discuss what you can do for me in return then." Valemeros chuckled, pushing himself off the table as he looked to Monique and Cecil. They had been there the entire time and he came to assume that they could not see the black feline that sat on the table.

"I'm going to love the day the shoe is on the other foot." Cat hissed.

"Excuse me?" Valemeros said, looking over his shoulder at Cat, a sly smirk on his face.

"You heard me." Cat snapped back, closing her eyes as she turned her head to her right.

Valemeros only smirked at the rebellious feline and gave a casual, close-lipped, victorious chuckle.

-Scene Change-

Sheena traced her fingers along the walls slowly for the eighth time, searching for anything that was hidden or a latch that would lead her to freedom, anything she could use at all. She had nothing else to do with her day; Verius was not answering her at all.

She had been locked away in this room for three days with few visitors; the very few that did visit her she did not want to be in the same room with. Valemeros was at the top of the list of people she did not wish to see or even try speaking with. Monique had been in there the day before and Sheena could not get over how tense of a moment it had been. Sheena had almost killed her after all and had constantly beaten her down since Monique dared to lift her staff to harm her or Lloyd. For the most part, they sat in silence while Sheena ate her meal and drank her tea. She even closed her eyes as if not acknowledging she was even there for most of their meeting.

Sheena did remember one part of their small conversation however. Her mind reflected on how that conversation went with the red haired woman.

-Flash back-

"Who…are you?" Sheena asked curiously, seeing a stunningly beautiful woman walk into the room with a silver tray. She had pale skin with long, silky, braided, crimson hair that fell over her left shoulder and her lovely features were complemented nicely with lavish, forest-green eyes.

"Let's just make this as painless as possible." Monique huffed.

"…Mon…Monique?" Sheena exclaimed.

"As I said, as painless as possible." Monique sighed as she walked over to the table and placed the silver tray there, creasing her dress enough so she could sit down on the chair. She sat like a true noble woman; her feet were perfectly placed and she even folded her hands lightly in her lap, sitting with a good straight posture.

They both sat in silence for what seemed to be eternity. Sheena could not help but break it as she placed the plate of finely cooked food down. If not for her capture she would compliment how lovely the room was and how great the food tasted.

"Why are you doing this?" Sheena asked lightly, holding her breath for a moment.

"I'm only here because Lord Valemeros is busy right now." Monique stated flatly. Her tone was cold and uncaring; Sheena was not surprised after everything she had put her through.

"Why…do you follow him?" Sheena asked, as if dancing around razors.

"I think we're done here." Monique breathed out, standing to her feet as she gave Sheena a small nod that could pass as dismissing herself.

"Wait!" Sheena exclaimed, trying to get Monique to stop as the finely dressed woman started her walk out of the room. "Do you care for him?" She asked to Monique's back.

Sheena was surprised to see Monique falter in her step, stopping for a moment, a sigh escaping her lips before she looked in front of herself and unlocked the door, leaving with a light slam.

-End of Flash back-

The door unlocking was what broke Sheena out of her memory trance. Her heart raced for a moment; she would be a fool to try, but she could not wait here anymore. She turned her head toward the door, gracefully twisting on her heel and dashing to it.

Monique stepped in with the silver tray that held a fresh hot meal and tea.

"Alright, as painlessly as pos-" Monique was starting to say.

Sheena moved swiftly, even without the aid of her Exsphere. She kicked the silver tray, hearing the woman suddenly scream as it hit her face and she staggered back. Spinning once more on her foot, she kicked Monique in the stomach, hearing her gasp as the air was forced out and her body slumped over. Sheena looked down at the lovely features of the woman's face, her eyes wide and her mouth gaped open as she gasped for breath. Sheena followed up her element of surprise by spinning once more and delivering a backhanded blow to the woman's face, making Monique's body fling to the side as she hit the doorframe and slid to the ground.

Reaching down, Sheena grabbed the silver tray and stepped over her.

"Hold it!" Cecil yelled. He happened to be beside the door and did not have his Design uniform on either. Whipping her hand, Sheena threw the silver tray; with a ringing clang it hit him hard in the throat. Cecil's hands came up to grab at the damaged area, making him stagger back to slam into the wall and slide down while choking gasps echoed in the hall.

Sheena ran by him, but not before giving him a good kick to the side of the head while dashing by to make sure he did not get up anytime soon.

Sheena breathed hard while dashing as fast as she could, running through the hallways of the manor. Finding herself on the second level, she jumped over the railing, landing in a crouch before dashing forward again. She was not going to stop for anything or anyone; she knew she was going to be home free soon. She spotted what she knew to be the front door of the manor. Grabbing the knob, she felt her heart beat in joy when it twisted and the door opened to the clear blue skies. She was one step from outside and would race to find Lloyd so she could return to him.

Stepping outside, she shut the door hard and then ran down the pathway. The fresh air felt like pure bliss to her lungs.

The patter of Sheena's footsteps on the stone walkway came to a sudden halt as a gasp escaped her mouth. Her heart instantly dropped when she looked around, realizing where she was.

The blue skies surrounded her and a gale breezed through her hair as her eyes darted back and forth, only to see Valemeros standing outside with a cup of tea in his hands. He slowly turned around and looked at Sheena; first a flash of surprise seemed to cross his features before he gave her a calm smile and raised his cup to greet her.

"Oh, how thoughtless of me; It must have been very stuffy in that room for the past few days. Walls have a way of driving a person out of their mind." He took a sip from the cup, his dark purple eyes not leaving her. "You are so right. Come, let's take a refreshing walk." Valemeros gestured after he placed the cup on his small saucer and used the freed arm to lead the way.

Sheena was instantly struck dumb by what was happening and it did not occur to her, until now, just how hopeless of a situation she was in and how helpless she was forced to be.

"Welcome to my original home." Valemeros stated as he looked to a half elf that passed by, giving them nod as he continued on his way. Sheena could only bring herself to follow him in silence.

"Exire?" Sheena whispered lightly.

"Oh, yes of course you know of this place. This is where you formed the pact with the Summon Spirit Maxwell, correct?" Valemeros grinned, lifting the cup to his lips.

Sheena lowered her head; there was no way she was going to be able to escape Exire without the help of Valemeros or a Rheaird.

Exire, the floating city of half elves, was a sanctuary that welcomed all of their out-casts and gave them a place to call home when they were exiled from Heimdall. It was a place to escape the awful existence of serving humans in dark, dank, gloomy basements and was suspended in the air by the power of Maxwell.

"Valemeros…please." Sheena pleaded silently. She hated being reduced to such, but the feeling of hopelessness was becoming too heavy and being nearly alone for the past three days to be haunted by her thoughts and constantly thinking how Lloyd must be feeling was torturing her. It was making every heart beat that came from her chest hurt a little more than the last.

The light clang of ceramic cup against saucer was heard as Valemeros slowly turned to look over to her. Sheena's eyes fell to her feet before she willed herself through desperation to grab the noble's sleeve, halting their walk.

"Please…let me go…let me…" she swallowed hard and felt a shiver run through her body, "…see Lloyd again." Sheena's watery eyes looked right into Valemeros' unreadable, dark-shaded eyes. She did not know what else to do at this point and was desperate and defeated. She slid her fingers from his sleeve to his hand and pulled it up, cupping his hand in both of hers. "I am…pleading with you." She whispered sadly; never did she think she would ever plead with anyone for anything.

"Do not worry, my troubled little ninja. You will be reunited with your beloved Mr. Irving soon enough." He reassured her, giving a polite nod. "But only after I learn the location of those exspheres." Valemeros added in a firm tone of voice as he looked down at her sternly. "If you tell me where they are, then this experience can be but a bad dream."

'_Tell him…just tell him and be done with it…let's return to Lloyd!_' Her mind screamed in conflict. '_But…I cannot betray the trust he put in me…I cannot risk the lives of the ones Valemeros plans to harm with those Exspheres…I…just can't._' Sheena thought as she realized what it was she must do.

She knew she would need to suffer just a little while longer before Lloyd could come and save her. She had to keep her faith in him. Lowering her head, she answered Valemeros by releasing his hand and giving a sigh.

"You suffer needlessly for these Exspheres." Valemeros commented in a calm tone.

Sheena looked at the ground and stayed in silence. She watched as his hand extended towards her and grabbed her hand, turning it over so it was palm up. He placed his hand over hers, dropping something into it.

"Upon observing your gear, I have come to the conclusion that this is of sentimental value." Valemeros commented while removing his hands from hers. Sheena gazed upon the article in her hand, seeing the golden band shimmer in the sunlight and the green gemstone sparkle with the beauty of natural light. "Something perhaps Mr. Irving gave to you."

It was a small glimmer of hope, some company that she could tolerate more than that of her captors. Closing her hand over the ring, she looked back to Valemeros, speechless.

"Come, it is time to return." Valemeros gestured towards the manor as he gave a slight smirk. "You must be hungry after all."

As Valemeros led her back to the manor, she did not know where else to go or what else to do. Her fate was completely in this man's hands and the only one powerful enough to break his control over her would be Lloyd. She knew that as long as he breathed and as long as her heart beat, he would find her and he would come for her.

She was led back to the manor, meeting the glare of Monique as she wiped the gravy from her cheeks with a moist cloth, standing in the hallway as she waited for Valemeros to return. Cecil stood beside her, rubbing his throat painfully and letting out a small cough of agony twice.

"My my, Monique, you look absolutely unsightly. Please, take your leave and clean yourself up. I would not want to have my company for the formal dinner to look like a mess." Valemeros remarked, looking her up and down in assessment of her appearance.

"D-dinner?" She stuttered for a moment, lowering the cloth.

"Mmhm. You going to be ready in time or shall I just take Luna as my escort?" Valemeros smirked in a playful manner as he laced his hands behind his back.

"Don't you dare!" Monique suddenly burst out. Sheena could swear she saw a light blush surface on the pale features of the woman as she realized her tone and looked down. "…My Lord." She completed her sentence.

'_Does Monique…care for Valemeros?_' Sheena thought to herself, observing the situation silently.

"Good, then do get yourself cleaned up and meet me back here in 30 minutes." Valemeros nodded once, walking towards Monique as he looked at her cheek. There was a smear of gravy left on it. Sheena was surprised when she saw him wipe it off with the tip of his index finger, look at the substance and then lick it off. "Such a waste of good sauce." He casually commented before walking up the stairs, stopping to look over his shoulder. "Cecil, see our guest to her room. You shall be her company for dinner, Monique shall be preoccupied." Valemeros called back.

"Ye-yes, My Lord." Cecil got out in a coarse tone, rubbing his throat still as he gestured for Sheena. "This way…please."

Sheena nodded once, passing by Monique as she looked over to the pale woman, seeing that the blush on her cheeks had only deepened. She seemed intent on looking at the floor, lost in her own thoughts.

"Monique?" Cecil coughed out.

"Huh?" Monique flushed, snapping out of her trance-like state.

"Lord Valemeros?" Cecil reminded.

Monique rushed off and now Sheena was alone in the hallway with Cecil two paces behind her. Every time she looked over her shoulder he seemed to shift in his walking, like he was ready to take a more defensive stance. He was paranoid of her and what she could do, that much she knew just by his reactions.

'Maybe I can get some answers from Cecil, when he is not bloodthirsty; he seems to be the one most likely to give me straight answers.' Sheena thought to herself. She would have time to think things over before they prepared her second dinner. She would need to make this moment count.


	20. From one criminal to three

Chapter 20

Lloyd looked at the device that Regal and Zelos used as transportation, titling his head slightly as he looked over to the two, a silent question in his eyes.

"It is safe, Lloyd." Regal sighed, pocketing his hands.

"Just…be sure to buckle yourself in." Zelos groaned as he rubbed the top of his head.

"Where are we going to head to first?" Regal frowned, remembering their conversation just outside of Iselia.

"Right! We need to find Valemeros and give it to him good, rescue the dame in distress and save the world all over again." Zelos nodded with carefree smile.

"This is no joke." Lloyd stated in a flat tone.

"Bud, you know I am not taking this as some joke." Zelos replied in a more serious tone of voice as he closed his eyes. "Sheena is captured by some creep and the man slaughtered innocents while pinning the blood bath on you." Zelos stepped forward and placed his hand on Lloyd's shoulder, giving him a nod. "So you know I am not joking about the situation."

"I know, Zelos. You are just trying to keep us all in high spirits." Lloyd gave a light smile.

"The hardships can be difficult, Lloyd. The strength of a person is what shall determine how far they can travel. You taught me that long ago and now it is our turn to be here for you." Regal added in, leaning against the water-hopper, or at least, that is what Zelos called it.

Zelos nodded, "Right! Wherever this journey will lead, you'll have us behind you all the way. Now come on, let's beat some guys, get the girl and live happily ever after!" He gave his usual charming, carefree smile.

Lloyd nodded, "Right. Thank you, guys."

He gripped onto the armrests of the chair as the water-hopper lived up to the name that Zelos had given it. When the vehicle hit the ocean waves, it shot up high into the air and then crashed back down onto the body of water; the speed it was going was very impressive.

The first place they would try to look was Meltokio. The style of clothing that Valemeros wore in their confrontations, as told by Sheena, was the style that was worn by the nobles of that area. It seemed to be the most logical place to start looking. Hearing Regal and Zelos' story about what Valemeros reported to the king only made Lloyd more certain of starting there. Lloyd had left out the details of the damage that was caused to Sheena from losing her Summon Spirits and also spared any details he felt was meant to be between them.

"So Lloyd!" Zelos raised his voice over the crashing waves, "What is the deal between you and Sheena?" He probed, looking over to him.

"Is that really important right now, Zelos?" Lloyd confronted, closing his eyes for moment as they hit a larger wave which made the Water-Hopper almost float in the air for a moment before crashing to the water's surface once more.

"Guess not. Forget I asked, Bud." Zelos said, but his tone was slightly off when he said it.

'_What was that about?_' Lloyd asked himself, opening his eyes to look over to the red haired swordsman.

Lloyd could swear that he heard Zelos say something else, but the crashing of the waves made it impossible for him to hear exactly what he was saying. He could only watch as his lips moved to their own words and his left hand came up to tug the bandanna lower over his forehead. He finally breathed out a heavy sigh and appeared to be more solemn than usual.

-Inside Valemeros' Manor in Meltokio-

Lloyd walked through the hallways, a heavy sinking in his heart as he realized that the entire manor was empty. It looked to be recently abandoned as well, meaning that he had just missed him. The trip across the water had taken quite a few hours and it was becoming night time, the day almost gone.

Paintings decorated the hallways, a vast array that complemented the elegant royal purple rugs with golden weave trim and the black marble floors. The faint smell of lavender filled the entire manor due to small glass bowls of the dried flowers resting on almost every table throughout; each hallway had a small bed side sized table along the walls.

Lloyd opened the door that led him to the master bedroom of the manor. The first spots to check were the table tops, for anything at all, such as paper, books, clues; anything that could lead him to where they had taken Sheena. But the man left nothing behind that could help him. Everything that was there was a part of the manor, not a part of the noble who owned it. Slamming his fist into the bedside table, Lloyd groaned as he felt one more stab of hopelessness enter his heart.

But he knew he had to be strong, if not for his own sake, then for Sheena's. He was not going to bring her back if he lost his mind or was drowned in the sea of sorrows that threatened to consume him, pulling at him from the ankles.

"Nothing here, Lloyd. It looks like Lord Valemeros left a while ago." Regal said, entering the master bedroom.

"I failed, Regal," Lloyd whispered, gaining the elder man's attention, "Valemeros has done so much and I failed to stop any of it or even protect Sheena from him." He said it in a low tone, turning to face Regal. Lloyd had less self-pity in his voice this time. It was more of a tone of something he had to say to him. He had already unburdened himself to Raine, but Lloyd looked up to Regal just as he had looked up to Kratos's strength and prowess. Regal was an honest, clever, logical man and he needed to hear what he had to say.

"What would you say, Lloyd?" Regal stated calmly.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd blinked once, keeping his eyes locked on him.

"Friends have come to you with their failures and what do you say to them?" Regal gave a slight, but meaningful smile. "You ever hear the term 'Heed your own advice'?" He folded his arms.

"Well…yeah, I believe I remember Raine going over that once or twice in class a few years." Lloyd confessed, rubbing the back of his head as he searched his memory.

"That is what you should be doing Lloyd. You have been an inspiring hope to many people. Everyone that you have come into contact with, reflect on the advice you gave them and use it for yourself as well." Regal wisely stated, observing how Lloyd tended to give pure and honest advice to his friends, answers from his heart that never lied and always inspired his comrades.

"I see." Lloyd nodded, lowering his hand from the back of his head.

"Good," Regal smiled faintly. "Come on, I remember that Valemeros has a seasonal manor that was located along the beach, close by Altamira."

"Ok. Thanks, Regal." Lloyd gave a smile.

"No thanks required, Lloyd." Regal assured as he nodded to the young man and then turned to wave him onwards. "Come, there is no telling how long he will stay in one spot."

"Right." Lloyd nodded determined, looking to the master bedroom window for a moment before walking out of the room.

The trio walked toward the front door of the manor before opening it. The sight that Lloyd saw instantly burned his blood as he grabbed both hilts of his swords and drew them, stepping out of the manor.

"Valemeros!" Lloyd called out, seeing the noble start to walk up the pathway. He was beside a young, lavish woman who dressed in a lovely, dark-purple dress, obviously trying to match the wardrobe of the lord, who wore elegant black robes with royal purple seams, a delicately woven family crest on the front.

"…I…Irving!" Valemeros exclaimed, stepping back. He seemed incredibly shaken and startled by the appearance of Lloyd. Stepping out of the manor, he walked at a steady pace toward the noble. But with every progressing step that he made toward him, the half-elf backed up until he hit the stone fencing around his manor.

"Please…don't hurt him." Monique pleaded, stepping back with her lord.

"Lloyd, wait. Something is not right here." Regal urged, trying to follow after Lloyd.

"Something does stink…bad…like deception." Zelos frowned, looking at the duo retreating.

"You're not going anywhere, Valemeros." Lloyd started. He was about to continue on, until the three of them heard rustling in the bushes, accompanied by the clang of heavy armour.

"Hold it right there, Criminal Lloyd Irving!" came the echoed tone of one of the papal knights of the Meltokio Church of Martel.

Lloyd blinked, looking around him to see the courtyard almost filled with guards as they surrounded the three of them, creating a barrier between them and Valemeros. It was then that Lloyd knew what had happened, seeing Valemeros suddenly smirk as he gave Lloyd a wink with a wave of farewell, bowing his head once as he turned to face one of the knights.

"I told you he would be coming for me. No one was supposed to survive Flanior…and them! Sir Bryant and the Chosen Zelos Wilder! They both knew I was alive and witnessed their friends slaughtering the city of Flanior. They led them to my manor to kill me and get rid of any witnesses." Valemeros yelled, pointing at the two that were by Lloyd's side.

"This does not favour us at all." Regal whispered.

"Oh great, the little snake planned this." Zelos gave a light growl.

"Can't we just—" Lloyd whispered.

"Don't bother, the only thing thicker than these knights' helmets are their skulls. They won't listen to a word we say now. If it looks like criminal, acts like a criminal, it makes it a criminal. Its how they are taught as Papal Knights; just listen and carry out." Zelos groaned.

"We have no choice." Regal confirmed with a nod.

"…Alright…spare their lives if you can." Lloyd grimly stated in a whisper still. He wished it did not come down to this, but it seemed that Valemeros had already anticipated their next move and planned ahead to make him look even more guilty than he already did. The worse part of this was not that he had succeeded, but that he now dragged Zelos and Regal down the path of exile as well.

"Quick, take us some place safe," Valemeros uttered. A Papal knight nodded and two of them escorted Valemeros out of the court yard, but not before turning his head to look over his shoulder to grin at Lloyd, slipping an arm around Monique as they were taken around the corner of the fence and out of sight.

"Lloyd Irving, President Regal Bryant and Chosen Zelos Wilder, please come with us. You three are under arrest." The captain of the Papal Knights demanded.

"Might be our best bet." Regal confessed, looking to Lloyd.

'But if we get arrested now, then that leaves Sheena at his mercy for who knows how long. They could keep us in jail for days, even weeks before a decision is made.' Lloyd thought to himself. He knew he could not let that happen and had to do something about it. It would only put another nail in the coffin of his guilt and failing Sheena was not going to be something he would let happen again.

"So please come with us and drop your weapons" The captain commanded, stepping forward with four other guards at his side.

Lloyd breathed out once and seemed to ease down, allowing the guards to close in on him. But the moment they were within range, Lloyd gripped all the courage he had pulsing through his body and his exsphere burned to life as he tightened the grip on his swords.

Spinning around in a circle, the motion created a brief vacuum that pulled the nearby guards into him, before he felt the Exsphere burn for a brief moment as he released the building emotion inside his body and let it explode forward into a raging energy.

"Raging Beast!" Lloyd called out aggressively.

The five guards were sucked into the attack and all were sent to the ground, their weapons dropping from their hands as their armour clanged violently. Groans were heard as the energy once more took the form of a lion's head, the air coming to life, crackling as it made the sound of a roaring beast.

Regal nodded, turning to face one of the groups of knights, "The choice has been made."

Zelos gave a sigh, followed by a carefree shrug as he bounced from one foot to the next, drawing his sword and then slipping his other arm into the shield that was attached to the belt at his side, "Right, the hard and complicated way."

'I won't let them take me in, not until I save you, Sheena.' Lloyd growled as that thought kept bouncing in his mind, fighting off of nothing but pure survival instinct. The Exsphere continued to fuel him and gave the will and strength to fight the odds. One knight swung wide with a halberd, making Lloyd dodge to the side, swiping with his right sword to the stock of the weapon, slashing through the handle while his left sword clanged against the metal of the halberd, so when the stock was gone, the halberd could be knocked off to the side, leaving the knight disarmed. With both arms crossed, Lloyd turned to the next two knights, slashing outwards hard and overpowering their advance as they both hit the ground. Instinct took over and made him lift his sword as he heard the clang of steel against steel. A sword had slashed downwards at him and his presence of mind allowed him to avoid the possible threatening blow. Twisting around he parried the sword, throwing it downwards and then slashing with his left sword, feeling it peel through the arm and body of the knight.

Lloyd flinched. It was a meaningless death and he had wished to avoid needless bloodshed. However, the red swordsman also knew that in some cases it would be unavoidable.

His ear twitched, forcing him to turn around again with a slash, hitting the steel of another advancing knight. Three of them came in close, weapons drawn as they all attacked at once from the front. Slashes and stabs came at different times in a combined attack, but each seemed to meet with Lloyd's swords as he blocked every strike of aggression. His head turned for a moment; a knight came at him from behind and the numbers were quickly gathering against them.

A spear was thrust at Regal, a retaliation strike coming from him in the form of a kick as he lifted his leg high, kicking the spear down to the ground and then using it to kick off and lash out with his opposite foot, slamming it into the side of the knight's head, making him stagger and fall forward. Regal turned to his right, spotting the knight advancing on him with a fellow knight at his right side. Noticing this positioning, Regal jumped to the left of one of the knights quickly and launched a shuffle side kick to his chest plate. The echoed grunt sounded from the helmet from the impact of the kick, sending the knight off the ground as he crashed into his friend, sending them both down in a clang of cluttered armour.

"Oh come now guys, can't we talk about this?" Inquired Zelos playfully to the three guards standing before him, lifting his sword and shield in a shrug. Four knights came up behind him, sandwiching him between both walls as he glanced over his shoulder for a moment. "….You can't be serious," He whined, shaking his head with a sigh. "Fine fine. How about you all just walk away before someone gets hurt." The three in front of Zelos started their advance on the chosen. He narrowed his eyes in a sudden focus as he tightened the grip on his sword, "Just saying sorry in advance guys. Nothing too personal." He swiped quick and hard in a horizontal slash as the stocks of the three halberds snapped in half, making the knights stop their advance. Zelos breathed in deeply, holding his breath for a moment before breathing out, feeling the Cruxis crystal course mana through his veins. "Watch this now, keep watching." He demanded of the three disarmed knights while his eyes gave a shimmer of energy, the mana manifesting into power. "Thunder Blade!" Zelos yelled out, lifting his sword into the air. In a burst of flashing light, a sword composed of lightning dropped from the skies, slamming between the four knights that stood behind him. It exploded as the lightning crackled in the air and coursed through the armour of the knights as their screams of agony filled the air until the four crashed to the ground. "You can run now," Zelos waved off.

The three knights all dropped their broken weapons and did as they were told, taking the sound advice as they fled from the courtyard.

Lloyd dodged to the side, avoiding the lance thrust from a knight. While balancing on one foot and stabbing with both swords, his blades slid easily into the plate as Lloyd felt them sink into flesh and body. The knight choked as he slumped forward and crashed to the ground, allowing Lloyd to slide the swords out to face two others. One stepped forward to slash down at the red swordsman, but Lloyd ducked to the side, jumped through the air, and slashed the plate as the knight yelped. Ignoring that knight now, knowing how mortal those wounds were, Lloyd landed on the shoulders of the third, stabbing down into the eye sockets of the Papal knight helmet and then leaping off his shoulders. Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh as both knights fell to the ground.

"Go…get out of here." Lloyd demanded, pointing his sword at the knight that was coming up from behind him. The knight hesitated before realizing that he was one of the only ones left. Turning around he fled and accepted the offer so that he might live to fight another day.

"We should leave, now. The longer we stay here in Meltokio, the more lives we will risk." Regal urged, as he ran up beside Lloyd.

"I wish it did not have to be this way." Lloyd groaned lightly, looking up to Regal with a nod. "Right, let's go. We have to get out of here if we are going to rescue Sheena and then make Valemeros pay."

Zelos looked to the right, hearing a commotion in the noble district that was coming from the direction of the palace. He gave a sigh, "That's our cue, Bud. We exit stage left."

Lloyd knew now that he would be hunted to the ends of the world; the deepest caves, the hottest sands and even the coldest snows until he was brought to justice. His name was soaked in the blood of Luin and Flanior and he would now be considered a terrorist. The saddest part of it all was that Lloyd was dragging his friends down the path with him, as well as Sheena.

Fleeing through the city streets, the three knew their escape was not going to be without blood. Papal knights ran to their location, some trying to cut them off, only for them to be literally cut down by Lloyd's sword in less than a second so it did not interrupt their dashing speed.

'_Sheena, I will bring you back to me__… no matter what the cost._' Lloyd thought, his eyes narrowing in determination. Slashing through one more Papal Knight before running onwards, his thoughts continued, '_Even if…I have to give him what he wants…I need you._'


	21. Tale of the past on a former noble

Chapter 21

Sheena watched as Cecil placed the silver tray down, his eyes locked onto hers. She did not blame him after everything she had already done to him. She had showed that she didn't need an Exsphere to be lethal, although it certainly helped a great deal.

Grabbing her cup of tea, she sat down on the other side of a little round table in front of the fireplace where two chairs were positioned. Gently stirring her tea, Sheena slowly looked over to Cecil and let out a soft breath.

"What is your name? I mean your real name." Sheena asked lightly.

"Cecil, you know this already. Monique has said my name around you at least half a dozen times." He replied, folding his arms as he leaned back into the chair. She could tell he was trying to play the role of her jailor and wanted to keep a tough, controlling appearance.

"That's it? Just Cecil?" Sheena wondered.

"Just Cecil, I don't have a last name." He stated indifferently. He kept his arms folded while looking at the crackling fire.

"Everyone has a family name." Sheena commented, placing the tea cup in the saucer, resting it on her lap.

"We don't." Cecil stated in a flat tone, not even moving much in his chair; the only thing that moved was his eyes. He was staying alert and ready for anything that Sheena might do.

"We?" Sheena wondered, thinking about it for a moment. "Monique doesn't have a last name either?" Sheena asked, realizing that he was unintentionally giving her slightly more information.

"It does not matter." Cecil sighed out in an irritated manner.

"Well, how did you two meet Valemeros?" Sheena asked, tilting her head. She got the cold shoulder from Monique when she asked that same question, so she thought she might get more of a response from Cecil.

"He saved us." Cecil replied, looking to the side at the window drapes.

Sheena did not expect to hear that type of answer. Valemeros had once saved Cecil and Monique; she could not help but find that hard to believe. However, she also knew that she was judging the man from the way she saw him and her experiences with him. She also had to admit that she found it hard to believe that a man who can slaughter entire villages and towns could have any good to him.

"How did he save you?" Sheena asked, her eyes wide with bewilderment at the concept of Valemeros saving anyone.

Cecil gave Sheena a cold look, narrowing his eyes for a moment before looking to the burning embers of the fireplace.

"Well…" he hesitated.

Sheena stared at him intently. When he spoke his story, she did her best to picture what he was saying.

-The tale-

"Disgusting half elves!" a human cussed.

Two half elven children were pressed up against a wall with an upset crowd cornering them. One man stepped forward.

"It was these two disgusting things! They stole from my stand!" the vendor pointed out.

The male stepped in front of the frightened female as she huddled behind her only trusted friend, clutching the apple to her chest as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I say we call the guards. Get their putrid bodies off our streets." Another voice yelled.

"No! I say we deal with this." A female protested.

The male got hit in the shoulder with a rock, grunting as tears instantly filled his eyes. But he would not weep in front of the mass that threatened them. He continued to shield the female from the aggression of the crowd, accepting another rock thrown at his head, staggering but managing to keep his stance. Blood trickled down the side of his face. He knew there was nothing they could do as half elves. They were often sentenced to death if caught on the surface world with humans. In this case, they had to steal to survive.

The noise of the crowd rose as everyone appeared to have a say, but he could not make out what any of them were saying. The aggression in the air was so powerful that he knew they would probably not be able to walk away from this experience alive. All he could do was look at the faces of anger, the mass of people that surrounded them and kept them cornered against the wall.

The boy felt his knee buckle as a rock was thrown, hitting it. He could not hold back anymore. The tears came and he wept uncontrollably in front of those who threw the stones.

The hail of rocks only confirmed what he thought; they both were not going to leave this situation today. Their judgement had come at the hands of the masses of Meltokio and their discrimination against half-elves.

"Hold your stones!" came a demanding, but young tone.

Trying to look through the blood, the small boy saw a young teen with elegant robes split the mass attacking the children before looking back to the group.

"Who dares to bring harm to my half-elven servants?" he snarled, turning his back to the two children to address the humans.

"They stole from my vendor! They deserve it!" a man protested.

"Is that so? Perhaps the King would share the same sentiments, knowing you killed servants of the Yogsorrow family." The young man snapped back.

Murmurs filled the street, repeated callings of the name Yogsorrow as if it held some great weight in the city.

"The king would not defend half-elves." One female stated.

"True, but do you think servants of the Yogsorrow name are just your everyday half-elf? Want to try that excuse?" the young noble snarled.

"My apples." The vendor growled out, stepping forward aggressively.

"I suggest you forget about it. I would have paid for them, had you not stoned my servants. But under these circumstances, you will need to forget it or you can answer for your crimes against my family." His eyes darted to the mass of angry citizens. "All of you hear that!" he yelled aggressively.

"I don't think they're your servants. If they are, what are their names?" challenged one man.

The little boy looked up through the blood covering his eyes, noticing the young noble look over his shoulder and turn to face the two children with a comforting and reassuring smile.

"Cecil…and Monique." The young Valemeros smiled.

He knelt to the two, placing a gloved hand on Cecil's head and one on Monique's, meeting them both with caring, warm and protective Imperial purple eyes. His lips parted as a small, faint whisper was heard.

"Come with me. You will never suffer again. I promise." Valemeros nodded once.

Cecil stared up at him with wide eyes.

-End of the story-

Sheena blinked in disbelief as Cecil told her the story. She was struck silent, unable to comprehend what to make of it.

"That was 15 years ago," Cecil sighed, keeping his arms folded as he stared at the burning fire. "We both would not be here if it was not for Lord Valemeros interjecting when he did. Since then, he has given us a place to call home and a life to be a part of." Cecil completed. "He taught us everything we know. I learned the sword from him and he went out of his way to find a half-elf to train Monique in her spells. He even searched through Exire to find some old, forgotten tomes to teach her what other mages have no knowledge of."

Sheena found it hard to picture Valemeros being so merciful when all she had experienced was his cruel, cold and calculating mannerisms. It then hit her, a possible situation that happened which surfaced to the front of her mind.

"He…wasn't always like this, was he?" Sheena boldly asked.

Cecil's eyes shot directly in her direction, almost making her jump slightly. His eyes were sharp, almost aggressive before they seemed to look to the side again with a sigh.

"You are correct in that." Cecil commented in an indifferent tone still.

"What…happened?" Sheena hesitated to ask. She did not wish to push her limits, but she knew that Cecil seemed to be more giving than Valemeros or Monique; in the area of keeping the stories of their enemies secret, he was the weak link.

The muscles in Cecil's jaw tightened. He was either hesitating to say something or whatever did happen had angered him. Sheena knew that meant he wished to at least tell someone and she did not believe Monique would be the most understanding woman to confess to.

"A man we had to call Lord Rodyle often came to the Yogsorrow manor to meet with Lord Valemeros' parents. After their convenient passing, Rodyle continued to address Lord Valemeros and often led him out of the manor for weeks on end." Cecil kept his arms folded as his unreadable eyes focused on the flickering fires.

"Ro…dyle." Sheena hesitated, remembering the deceptive Grand Cardinal of the Desians. It did explain how Valemeros had a connection with the Desians and why he used their uniforms. Sheena knew that if Rodyle was involved, he had had some grand scheme planned that involved Valemeros. Now with Rodyle dead, he was free to do whatever he wished.

Cecil pushed himself to a stand, looking over to the bewildered Sheena. Her brown eyes locked onto the eyes of her captor.

"I have said enough." Cecil stated flatly, nodding once in a form of dismissal. "Enjoy your dinner." He turned around and started to walk out.

"Cecil, wait. Don't go yet." Sheena asked, standing up from her chair.

"I'm done." Cecil declared, not faltering in his steps as he made his way out of the room.

"Is that…like a job requirement or something?" Sheena frowned, folding her arms.

Just then, it hit her mind; the ring Valemeros had given back to her. Slipping a hand into her tunic, she pulled it out. Giving a slight smile, she slipped it over her finger and then sat down and waited.

It did not take long for the black feline to materialize before her, sitting on the edge of the table. Her green eyes darted around to gain a bearing on where she was before looking back to Sheena and calming down, lifting her paw up to lick the back of it.

"About time." Cat sighed.

"Sorry about that, the ring got taken away from me. Cat, I need your help." Sheena confessed, staring right at the feline.

"I figured you would." Cat confessed, her bright green eyes opening to look at Sheena, even thought they were half-closed.

"How did you know?" Sheena wondered, tilting her head very slightly.

"Hm? Oh." Cat looked up towards the ceiling in thought, before giving a feline smile, "Nevermind, I am here to help. I am a Guardian after all."

"I am stuck with Valemeros. We're on Exire…it is-" Sheena started, but Cat lifted her paw to silence the purple ninja.

"I know what Exire is. I am a Guardian, I know where everything is." Cat purred.

"Oh, right. Well, I need to get off of it. Is there any way to get off of Exire without the need for a Rheaird?" Sheena asked, looking at Cat in a hopeful manner.

"No," Cat stated flatly. "This is an enchanted city that is controlled by Maxwell, things like that are not so simple. One bit of advice for you," Cat began. She seemed to be trying hard to act casual.

"What?" Sheena asked, biting her lip in hesitation.

"Just…give him the Exspheres. So what if he has them? Not like it is the end of the world. Give him the location. He gets them sure, but you get to be back with dumb-dumb and you both can plan something to put a halt to his plans and regain the them before he can even make use of them." Cat advised, letting out a light sigh after saying it all, as if it strained her on some level.

"Wait…how did you know that he wanted the Exspheres?" Sheena asked, her eyes narrowing slightly at the feline.

Cat's green eyes looked up again for a moment, "When you were unconscious in the forest, I did overhear his offer to your lover." Cat bluffed, giving a slight feline smile afterwards.

"I…Guess." Sheena nodded, slumping slightly in her chair as she thought over what Cat had said. The aspect of surrendering the Exspheres just seemed so reckless and gave her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"It would be easier if you just did what he asked." Cat said, but there was a hint of resentment in her tone as she spoke those words.

"Let…let me…think on it." Sheena replied, her eyes cast to the ground.

"The longer you take, the longer the idiot is tortured trying to find you." Cat responded.

Sheena's heart sank at hearing that fact, knowing it was true.

"I just need to think." Sheena whispered hopelessly.


	22. A short lived reunion

Chapter 22

Valemeros walked through the hallways of an elegantly furnished but dark themed manor, his eyes fixed forward as he walked towards a sealed door.

Opening it, the refined noble walked into the room to meet with Monique and Cecil. They both stood beside Sheena, who was strapped into a chair. She was bound at the wrists, legs and waist to make sure she could not go anywhere.

"I've tried to play nice," Valemeros remarked, lifting his right hand as he locked his imperial purple eyes to his fingertips while moving them casually. "But my patience is coming to its absolute end." While he spoke those words, energy flickered in the palm of his hand. "When we first met, you used Volt against me. I never got to…return the favour." A sly smirk crossed his face as the energy burst into surging electricity that rippled along the surface of his hand.

Monique looked to Cecil, gesturing her head to the side, wordlessly telling him to back off and give Valemeros the space he would need to continue his interrogation.

"Now, you can spare yourself this agony and better yet, be rewarded for your co-operation. All you need to do is tell me where the Exspheres are and this will all be a simple nightmare." His tone was dark and penetrating while maintaining a whisper, the lightning reflected in his rich purple eyes.

It rampaged wildly around the surface of his hand, bringing his eyes to life.

"May I make a suggestion?" Monique spoke in a low, suggestive tone as she walked to the back of the chair before placing her hand on Sheena's shoulder. She pulled her closer so her lips were near the female ninja's ear. "Give in now." She whispered softly, reaching over to pull Sheena's chin to meet her almost face to face before giving her a grin, winking once and stepping back.

Sheena only breathed out, her fiery eyes meeting with Valemeros', a look of defiance clear in them. She was not going to give into him and she made sure to make that known without the need of words.

"Shame," Valemeros sighed out with a shake of his head. "Mr. Irving has tested my patience enough. I heavily advise you not do the same. For you, my dear beautiful ninja, shall suffer each and every single day now. For every day you seal your lips, I shall show you a side of your own summon spirits that you never thought possible."

Sheena's eyes widened at what he said, realizing that he was not bluffing. Her lips opened, as if about to say something, before she screamed in agony as the elven noble extended his hand toward the bound ninja and flared his fingers out, shooting the lightning directly at her body. She felt her every muscle tense, her heart race and her nerves wreck under the crippling power of Volt.

She gasped out as the lightning sank into the chair and coursed to the ground. Valemeros pulled his hand back, closing it into a fist as the electricity continued to surge around it.

"Talk." Valemeros demanded.

"Lloyd…is going…to kill you…" Sheena hissed out, gasping in pain.

Valemeros frowned, throwing his hand forward again as he opened it. The wild lightning shot out once more, washing over Sheena's body as the energy sank deep into it. Her eyes shut tight as she threw her head up, screaming loudly as the muscles in her body continued to lock up from the agonizing torture.

The lightning was halted once more as Sheena's head dropped. She gasped as her muscles became weak, feeling like complete mush from the tension of the lightning coursing through them. A faint grey smoke floated from her body, for the fibres of her clothing had started to burn.

"I suggest you co-operate." Valemeros insisted.

Gasps continued to fill the room as Sheena shook her head slowly from side to side.

Her body tensed again as the lightning swarmed over her, causing her to grit her teeth while trying to suppress the torture, but it proved to be too much. She let out one last earth shattering scream.

-Scene Change-

Lloyd shot up from his sleeping spot on board the Water-hopper, pressing a hand to his soaked forehead as he tried to regain control of his breathing. He did not know what to think of what he had just dreamt about. It was far too real to dismiss as a nightmare.

The cold, crisp night gave Lloyd an instant chill due to his sweat covered body and soaked muscle shirt that he wore when he went to sleep. He glanced over to Zelos and Regal who seemed to be undisturbed by his sudden jolt up from his bed.

'_What is that creep doing to you, Sheena?_' Lloyd thought to himself. Two days had already passed and he could not tolerate what his mind was doing to him. '_Keep it strong, Lloyd._' He encouraged himself, trying to keep together after all the efforts that Raine made and all the risks that he placed Zelos and Regal in thanks to their run-in with Valemeros in Meltokio.

Lloyd knew he would need to draw strength from himself now as it was him that Sheena was depending on more than anything or anyone. He had promised Verius that he would not let her down and would stay by her side. He had to shake his head to remove the thoughts that Verius had put there to test him. Even thinking about it now made the young man uneasy. Verius was merciless with him and spared nothing when putting him through a test that was made just for him by the summon spirit.

"Hey…Bud, what are you doing awake?" a sleepy Zelos asked.

"Go back to sleep," Lloyd remarked quickly, running his hand through his sweat soaked hair. "Just a dream." He added, looking to the window beside his bed to look out into the night.

"Whatever you say man." Zelos replied, falling asleep the very second he completed his words.

The sweat soaked sheets proved to be too much for Lloyd and he felt trapped and helpless while he sat in bed. Standing to his feet, he slipped on his clothes, boots and gloves then silently exited the room to get to the part of the Water-hopper which could be considered the deck. He walked over to the railing and placed his hands on the cold steel, his gloves protecting him from that chill at least. The night sky had no clouds to block the sight of the stars while the half-moon illuminated the midnight waters.

"What do I do?" Lloyd whispered to himself, looking to the skies. "I know if I give him what he wants, more people are going to suffer and I will be the cause of it. But if I don't do anything then I do not know what will happen to Sheena…." Lloyd trailed off as he thought to himself. He thought that he had seen it all when it came to people and their agendas. He had fought crafty minds before, battling against their plans and managing to prevail, but this time it seemed that his enemy was always one step ahead of him. Every effort he made so far was twisted around and thrown back into his face. Valemeros was only getting stronger and gaining more leverage after every encounter. Lloyd was running out of options to stop him.

His right shoulder gave a sudden twitch of pain as the muscle locked up and made Lloyd grunt in agony, grasping it as he leaned against the railing and tried to breathe to relax. It did not help his case that he still suffered damage to the shoulder from his final duel with his father, Kratos. Lloyd had not felt the same ever since that fight and it had been crippling his fighting style, even allowing Valemeros to realize his weakness and use it against him. The last time that Valemeros knew a weakness of his, he had used it to get to Sheena and reap her summoned spirits. Now he appeared against, using his need to protect those around him as a fire against him and used it to force Sheena away from him long enough to take her. Now his bond with Sheena was being used against him to further the man's plan and gain the Exspheres from him. The pain throbbed for a few moments longer before dulling down. Letting out a relieved sigh, he fell to the deck in a sitting position and sat there as the cool ocean breeze caressed him as it passed.

'_How do I stop a man who is only getting more powerful?_' Lloyd thought to himself as he clasped both his hands together and rested his forehead against his entangled fingers. It felt too strange for him. For two years he had traveled with Sheena and now she was not with him. He was not hearing her voice and her laughter or seeing her enchanting brown eyes look over to him, not detecting her sincere attitude and cheerful smile. It had only been two days but knowing what torture she was in, it seemed like it was much longer than time was telling him.

'_Calm down, Lloyd_,' He thought to himself once more. '_You have broken down enough; you need to__ be strong right now._' He took in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before letting it out. He knew that he would just have to maintain himself until the sun rose and they made their journey to Valemeros' beach retreat that was close by Altamira.

-Next Day-

"How long have you been awake, Lloyd?" Regal asked, walking onto the deck.

"Not long." Lloyd lied as he stared out at the rising sun which cast a glittering red glow along the water's surface.

"I see." Regal stated, as if he knew that he was lying. However, it seemed that the middle aged noble would let Lloyd decide when he was ready to speak and not try to force it out of the young man. "We will get her back, Lloyd." Regal reassured.

Lloyd instinctively rubbed his right shoulder as he looked out to the sea. He did not know why it was acting up so much recently; maybe it was the cold ocean breeze. "I know," Lloyd stated in a low manner, looking over to Regal. "No matter what it takes, I will free her from Valemeros."

"Willing to do anything?" Regal asked casually.

"Of course. What kind of-" Lloyd stated, but Regal raised a hand to stop him.

"I did not wish to come across to you as if I am questioning your resolve, Lloyd." Regal reassured, giving the young man a stern, but understanding stare.

"I know, Regal." Lloyd confessed. "I am just wondering why Valemeros wants the Exspheres so much. What could he have in mind for them?" He said. Closing his eyes for a moment, he remembered the pain and suffering that is caused to make the Exspheres, including the one that he was currently wearing.

The Angelus Project had centered on his mother. After she escaped with Lloyd, Kvar told him how he tried to replicate the project hundreds of times with no success. That had meant that so many lives were added to those who had suffered and were sacrificed in the Human Ranches to make the Exspheres. Lloyd instinctively touched the one on the back of his hand, running his gloved index finger over the surface.

"I can guarantee you that any man who would go through the lengths he has, is not wishing to have the Exspheres just to admire them." Regal pointed out, placing his hand on Lloyd's shoulder.

"I know, but… say if we do get Sheena back. If he survives then there is no telling what more he will do to gain them. No matter what happens, more people will suffer all for his quest for the Exspheres." Lloyd stated in a firm voice. He hated to admit it but he knew that there was only so much he could control right now.

"Then we will just have to find him and stop him for good." Regal firmly replied.

"I am just thinking of what would happen if he survived the encounter. A desperate man is capable of dangerous feats." Lloyd leaned against the railing of the Water-Hopper.

"If he gets the Exspheres, then who knows how many will suffer." Regal responded.

Lloyd looked over to Regal with a stern expression on his face, letting one calm and almost dreadful breath escape his lips. "Maybe, but his plans will further and he will be more open. We could focus more." He thought out loud.

"Lloyd, tell me you are not thinking of giving into him and just handing over the Exspheres." Regal frowned, keeping his stern eyes on Lloyd.

"No…of course not," Lloyd started as he lowered his head, letting out a soft, almost defeated sigh. "Well…maybe." He confessed.

"Well Lloyd, I won't try to stop you, but I am here for you." Regal sighed, but gave an understanding nod. He knew that he had no true idea what Lloyd had been going through and to scold him now would be the last thing that the troubled swordsman would need.

"Thank you again, Regal." Lloyd lifted his head so he could look out to the waters once more.

"Let's go to Valemeros' second location before you think of doing anything drastic, Lloyd." Regal added in, at least trying to buy time before giving into the villainous noble.

"Right."

-Scene Change-

Lloyd walked through the dark, unlit hallways of Valemeros' summer home. He felt it within his heart that neither Valemeros nor Sheena were in the manor. The place had been left in a state that proved to him that it had not been lived in since the last summer season at the very least.

The musty air was far too stale for anyone to be living there. Lloyd could even see the faint traces of dust in the dark hallways from the small beams of light that managed to sneak in through the cracks in the window drapes of the elegant hallways. His footsteps echoed as he came to a door that had fine carvings and gold-plated coating that gave away that it led to either the master bedroom or even a study.

With a twist of the golden doorknob, the wooden door came open in an almost weightless manner. Stepping inside, Lloyd glanced around and found himself confused as to why there were light sources in the room. Crystalline objects gave off a faint glow that illuminated the area in a purple aura. His eyes adjusted as he scanned the well-stocked study, spotting the man's books on all three walls from floor to ceiling. An oak desk that had papers scattered all over the surface sat with two laminating crystals on both front corners. It was all completed with a finely dressed half-elven noble who sat in a lordship style high back chair that had golden carvings which surrounded the royal purple padding. Lloyd's spine tingled as he observed the last part, his eyes narrowing dangerously as his teeth grit together.

"Valemeros." Lloyd tensed as he placed both hands on the hilts of his swords, drawing the blades with the echoing sound of metal against sheath as the edges slid against the surface.

"Hmhm, I am quite sorry Mr. Irving, but your princess is in another castle," Valemeros smugly stated as he arched one eyebrow upon observing Lloyd's response to his presence.

"Where is she?" Lloyd exclaimed in a loud, but firm tone.

"Hmm?" he asked, giving an almost innocent tilt to his head in mockery. "Oh right right, Sheena Fujibayashi." The lord smirked.

Lloyd was feeling the pull of desperation toy with his heart as Valemeros casually sat before him with his fingers laced together, his elbows resting on the desk littered with loose paper. This could be one of the only chances that Lloyd got with the man and he did not wish to waste it by letting him out of the manor.

The room was a confined space so he counted on the fact that the power of the summon spirits could not answer Valemeros' call. All he had to worry about were the half-elven noble's spells and his keen ability with the sword. The painful twitch in his shoulder flared for a moment, reminding him that he was still limited in what he could do and that it gave Valemeros the advantage over him. Lloyd remembered their last encounter when Valemeros forced him to block all his powerful swings with his right side and how it eventually overwhelmed him. Nodding once to himself, Lloyd determined that he would need to focus on dodging more than blocking.

"As I have said before, you can get your precious little purple gem back in exchange for all the other 'gems' you have collected around the world." Valemeros smirked as he rested his chin on his laced fingers, "The only question left is…which is more important to you?"

"I…" Lloyd attempted to say, but his emotions were ruling over a mind calm enough to formulate any solid thought, letting the taunting tone of Valemeros get the better of him as the grip on the hilts of his swords tightened.

"Oh by all means, take all the time you wish. I am sure Sheena can endure another night of torture." Valemeros looked up toward the ceiling with a thoughtful expression, "I think tonight I will introduce her to the darker methods that Undine is capable of." He chuckled to himself at his own twisted sense of humour. "That should give you more than enough time to consider your priorities."

"You son of a-" Lloyd growled as he cut himself off. His emotions burst through the gates of his control as he jumped toward the noble and swiped hard and swiftly. He was surprised when he felt his sword cleave through something; he had actually hit him with the swipe.

The sight that Lloyd saw however horrified him. Valemeros was cleaved from shoulder to shoulder, but his top half floated in the air, the room filled with the taunting and mocking laughter of the half-elven noble. The openings on the body where it was severed seemed to seep a black plasma substance that evaporated into the air, showing that the image before him was nothing more than an illusion.

"Darkness is capable of more things than you can understand, Mr. Irving. Shadows are the doorway to the world of illusion. I knew you would come here, so I put this wonderfully clever illusion in place to remind you that every day you hesitate is every night that your beloved ninja might break. You will have no one and nothing to blame but yourself and your own stubborn nature. I would heavily suggest surrendering the information I require…least…I break... something…" the image of Valemeros started to fade into the air as his last bit of sentence ended in an echoed tone, "...that cannot…be fixed…"

"Dammit," Lloyd whispered as he dropped his swords, letting the words of the noble sink in as he was reminded what was happening to Sheena every day that he refused to give in. He found it harder to breath, the weight on his chest becoming crushingly heavily as he placed a hand to his heart and tried to find the strength to endure.

'_Is it…really right__ to hope that Sheena has the strength to endure this? She is being tortured because of me. All for the Exspheres and my journey._'

"Lloyd! What happened!" Zelos rushed into the room, looking around cautiously before locking onto Lloyd, who had his head slumped over in thought. Zelos noticed that his swords lay on the ground at his feet.

"Zelos…go get Regal and meet me on the balcony," Lloyd stated solemnly.

"What's the plan?" Zelos wondered.

"Just…please…do that for me, I need a moment," Lloyd responded, keeping his eyes closed as he became lost in the swirling storm of his nagging thoughts.

"Alright Lloyd," Zelos nodded before turning on his heel towards the door. He stopped for a moment to look over his shoulder in consideration, but placing his faith in the young swordsman, he continued to walk on.

-Scene Change-

"Undine?" Luna asked, titling her head to the side for a moment as the silken strands of hair slid along her shoulder gracefully.

"Correct," Valemeros confirmed as he placed his hand on the tip of her crescent moon and leaned against the hovering chair of Luna. "I would like it if you would impart the vision of Fujibayashi getting tortured using the power of water this time."

"Why are you making me conjure these dreams for him?" Luna wondered, resting her head peacefully on her crescent moon.

"Aggression without the need for the actual act of it, Luna," Valemeros stated, giving a causal smirk. "Mr. Irving believes the dreams he has to be really happening and thus it shall help to influence his choice. I could never torture such a beauty with my own hands. It is such a waste of a lovely appearance," Valemeros chuckled lightly, looking to the side as a flicker of disgust filled his eyes. "Besides, torture is so…primitive, so beastly and I like to consider myself above it," Valemeros shrugged.

Sheena had been perfectly fine the entire time, but Valemeros knew that the fastest way to persuade Lloyd would be to put him in a state of desperation and nothing spelt that like the thought of a cherished one being tortured. He knew Lloyd would crumble eventually after enough nights of envisioning her pain and agony.

"How…do you want it done this time?" Luna sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she got ready to try and picture it.

Valemeros leaned in, sliding his fingertips along her cheek until he could push the hair strands away from her ear, leaning in close as he whispered softly into her ear. She held her breath for a moment, not used to such an intimate action being done to her; she was, after all, a summon spirit. After he pulled away, her eyes slowly opened as she nodded once and let out a sigh.

"For a man who believes he is above torture, you find some interesting means of being able to do it." Luna remarked softly.

"Well what can I say? I am a very knowledgeable man. Just because I do not approve of such actions does not mean that I have not thought in-depth about it. Oh, and do you think you can give him these images right now? While he is awake?" Valemeros confessed while looking towards the windowed doors that led to his balcony that had a landscape view over Exire.

"That is possible, yes," Luna responded.

"Then please do so. I think it would serve him better while his memory of our meeting in my summer manor is still fresh." Valemeros grinned as he folded his arms and turned toward the patio doors, closing the distance while whispering to himself, "How long do you plan to last, Mr. Irving?"

-Scene Change-

Lloyd picked up his swords as he tried to gather himself, but he felt his heart cease in his chest as his eyes went wide. He felt an invasion of images coming into his head that forced him to drop his swords again.

-Vision-

"Mr. Irving…I thought about waiting until the sun passed the horizon, but I figured why wait and give you the torture of knowing it is coming when we can just get it over with," Valemeros grinned as he walked towards the table that Sheena was strapped to. Monique and Cecil were standing at both sides of her head.

"We ready on your command," Cecil nodded once.

Valemeros nodded and gave smirk, waving his hand for them to proceed as Monique leaned over and slapped Sheena lightly on the cheeks to wake her up. She mumbled and moaned painfully before her brown eyes opened and she woke from a daze. Instantly coming to life, Sheena struggled against her harnesses and breathed out in what could be detected as fear.

"I know it is so soon after last night's session, but I figured you got enough rest to jog your memory on were those Exspheres are," Valemeros grinned.

"Forget it." Sheena snapped.

'_Sheena…no._' Lloyd thought, being forced to watch the events.

"Tsk tsk. Fine. You know Undine's power of water, correct? Here is a simple but effective thing you can do with water," Valemeros grinned as he looked to Monique and Cecil and gave them the confirming nod.

"What? What are you doing?" Sheena yelled as a soaked cloth was stretched over her face and held in place by both of Valemeros' henchmen. She struggled but knew she was not going to get anywhere since she was firmly strapped in place. She could not even turn her head as both Cecil and Monique were holding her firmly.

Valemeros raised his hand to hover above Sheena's head as he looked over to the side, so Lloyd could see his smirking face, "You see, this little tactic is a drowning method. With the cloth firmly in place, it shall now be complete instinct that her mind invokes the fear of drowning…like so." Valemeros turned his palm down as water came in a downpour, splashing against the cloth as Sheena's body convulsed. She desperately tried to struggle against her restraints, the coughing quickly becoming water soaked gagging as she sputtered, trying desperately to expel the liquid.

"But as you can see, the water goes in but with the cloth in place it is almost impossible to expel it." He chuckled as he let the water pour for what seemed to be an eternity for Lloyd. Her hacking coughs sputtered as the fight in her body slowly died down. She was drowning and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

'Stop it…stop it…please,' Lloyd thought aloud, hoping that Valemeros could hear him.

"That's enough," Valemeros demanded as Cecil and Monique nodded and removed the cloth, unstrapping one side of her body. They rolled her over onto her side as Sheena started hacking, coughing out water as her body remained limp, but she was still quite conscious. Valemeros leaned closer to the purple ninja, his head near her ear as he pushed the ebony strands aside and whispered, "You can make it stop, Mr. Irving. You can make it all stop..."

Sheena only responded by coughing out in a coarse manner, closing her eyes as she let out a soft whimper and tried to gather her breath.

"Right, strong and stubborn it is," Valemeros answered for her as he nodded to the duo once more. They firmly strapped her into place as Valemeros looked in Lloyd's direction, "The best thing about this method is if controlled, it can go on for a long, long time." He grinned.

"N…N..No…" Sheena sputtered before the cloth was stretched over her face again, leaving Sheena to only muffle her screams behind the cloth, knowing what was going to happen again and sure enough Valemeros did not keep her waiting as he turned his palm down at her and water poured from his hand and splashed onto Sheena's face, instilling the concept of drowning back onto the purple ninja.

"You can make it end, Mr. Irving…you can make this all go away."

-Vision end-

Lloyd gasped as the vision ended abruptly, cause Lloyd to become instantly disorientated as he stumbled and found himself tripping over his feet before crashing onto the ground. His breathing had become fast paced with the emotions of anger, fear and sorrow coursing through him. Closing his eyes, he knew he could not take it anymore and he knew he could not allow Valemeros to do anything more to Sheena cause of him.

Gathering what little remaining strength and courage he had, he managed to push himself to his feet while grabbing his swords once more and placing them in their sheaths before walking out of the room with a disoriented swagger to his step at first.

"Have you found something, Lloyd?" Regal asked the moment that Lloyd walked onto the balcony.

"Tell us what it is, Lloyd." Zelos insisted as he leaned against the railing in wait for the young man to return.

"I'm…sorry." Lloyd said with his head lowered.

"What? You're sorry? For what?" Zelos blinked, pushing himself off the railing.

"You both are in so much trouble cause of me and Sheena she is…" he could not complete the sentence, his lips refused to acknowledge the torture that was happening to her. "I am going to have to ask you both of a favour." Lloyd stated with as firm of a tone as he could get.

"Sure thing Lloyd, you just need to ask." Zelos reassured.

"Tell us what you need." Regal nodded in agreement.

"Leave…please, leave this manor…leave me behind. I need to settle this myself." Lloyd sighed out, lifting his head meaningfully towards his trusted companions, seeing the sudden bewilderment on their faces.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait…you are asking us to just ditch you? No way, Bud." Zelos replied with a tone of rebellion to his voice.

"I must agree, you cannot be left alone right now." Regal insisted.

"Guys…trust me, this is something I shall have to do." Lloyd frowned, he had enough of his own mind and heart conflicting with him that he did not need their addition to his internal struggle.

"You're thinking of giving him the Exspheres…aren't you?" Regal confronted passively.

"What? You're just going to give in?" Zelos called out with wide eyes.

"This is not easy…just please…trust me on this and leave me be for now, I will come back for you guys. I promise." Lloyd reassured as he looked to them both.

"I have to confess, I have a hug problem with just leaving you behind Lloyd." Regal confessed.

"Two days than," Zelos nodded.

"What?" Lloyd blinked once.

"Regal and I will be back at this manor in two days. It will be our turn to come back for you." Zelos nodded.

"Zelos, you are not considering leaving him alone." Regal frowned.

"Lloyd here can take care of himself; he has been doing it for years just fine and you and I both know that he would not do anything so drastic unless he had reason to. I trust him." Zelos nodded, folding his arms as he gave Lloyd a small, confident smile.

"Thanks Zelos." Lloyd nodded once before looking to the side. "I have to do this."

The sound of footsteps against the stone of balcony could be heard as Regal walked forward and placed his hand on Lloyd's shoulder.

"We'll come back." Regal reassured.

Lloyd could only give a nod as he closed his eyes for a moment. "I know you will."

Regal walked off the balcony, leaving Zelos to stand there as he turned around and placed his hands against the railing while looking up to the skies.

"Lloyd, come here." Zelos insisted, not taking his eyes off the passing clouds.

'_What now?_' Lloyd thought, he did not mean to think rudely of the red haired chosen but he had hoped to try and get this done as soon and painlessly as possible. Lloyd also had a feeling however that Zelos would not go away peacefully until he had his say and so he walked over to stand beside Zelos.

"I'll be honest Bud, I did not expect Sheena to follow you around as long as she had been. You know what kind of devotion that takes?" Zelos sighed out, closing his eyes.

"Yes, I do." Lloyd replied in a monotone response.

"Do you really?" Zelos wondered, glancing over to Lloyd. "Do you know what kind of woman will follow a man to the ends of the world and beyond? Do you understand the reason behind it?" Zelos frowned, pressing his weight into the railing.

"I believe so." Lloyd responded.

"I don't think you do." Zelos suddenly snapped a hint of aggression that was not so common with his cheerful and flirty attitude. He turned to face Lloyd, his face stern and his eyes almost cold when he stared over to Lloyd; it took the red swordsman by surprise. "Just bring her back Lloyd…you owe her at least that much." Zelos snapped.

"Zelos? What's with you?" Lloyd found himself bewildered.

"That's exactly the problem…there is nothing with me." Zelos frowned, before turning and walking off the balcony.

Lloyd could only bring himself to breathe out once as his mind scrambled to gather the events of what just happened between Zelos and him. Lloyd shook his head once and turned to face his back to the red haired chosen as he closed his eyes, focusing on Sheena. He could swear he heard Zelos mumble something behind him, but he could not make it out and he found himself without the urge to ask.

"There is nothing beside me either…but you have…" Zelos mumbled beyond Lloyd's hearing range as the flirtatious swordsman suppressed the welling anger in the pit of his stomach.

-Scene Change-

"It is done; Lloyd Irving has seen the images of which you wished me to convey." Luna breathed out as she placed a hand to her forehead.

"Something troubles you however." Valemeros confronted passively.

"These…visions just trouble me so much." She sighed out weakly, proving she was not a spirit that was even comfortable with the aspect of torture.

"I assure you, my lovely dove of light. You shall not need to bestow anymore images of such barbaric acts, Mr. Irving's resolve will shatter." He reassured as he placed a hand tenderly on Luna's shoulder.

"Is that a promise?" Luna asked, opening one eye.

"I promise it." Valemeros smirked; Luna fed him a suspicious glance at first before he brought his fingertips to her cheek. "Would I lie to the radiant beauty of your light?" Valemeros reassured.

Luna gave only a small smile as she lowered her hand from her forehead and gave a nod.

"You also said before that you could not impart images onto Sheena, I forgot to ask why at the time so if it does not trouble you, my moon riding beauty, might I ask now?" Valemeros wondered, tilting his head.

"Sheena is protected." Luna responded in a soft whisper.

"How?" Valemeros wondered, still stroking the pale maiden's cheek.

"The Summon Spirit protects her heart right now, any duress that I may threaten her mind and cause pain on her heart would be countered by this spirits will to protect her heart."

"Summon spirits? How is that possible?" Valemeros wondered, narrowing his eyes in thought as he remembered the night he ripped the summon spirits from her body; he knew he did not leave even one behind and yet somehow she was still being protected by one.

"The only one capable of protecting her heart to such a degree would be the one known as Verius." Luna responded with an elegant softness to her voice.

"Verius…" Valemeros whispered as he glanced over his shoulder, in the direction of the room where the purple ninja had been peacefully left alone for her entire stay.

'_We'll see about that._' Valemeros thought to himself, his eyes gave a purple flicker of power as his left hand tensed in a balled up fist.


	23. Miasma, the fatal poison of mana

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Valemeros heavy chapter.

Valemeros walked over as he placed his hands lightly on the table that Sheena laid on the bed, on top of the bed sheets. She looked to be in a peaceful sleep while Valemeros leaned towards the purple ninja; the bed gave a little under his weight.

"You shall not be waking anytime soon." Valemeros chuckled as he glanced over to the table; a tea cup had fallen onto the finely stitched carpet, pouring tea all over the surface. Valemeros had made sure to drug the tea before giving it to Sheena and now she was laid before him and completely prone.

"I see Verius can protect your mind from the images of Luna; yet he cannot protect you from the effects of poison." Valemeros chuckled while he lifted up his right hand, letting the energy of his mana bloom along the surface. "This will not hurt you in one bit, Verius…cannot promise the same for you, my lovely ninja." He confessed.

The mana swirled lively along his hand; moving like waves of flames that produced no smoke and gave no heat; the concentrated mana produced a dark purple light that lit up a small area of the room, the bed to be more precise.

"Just sleep peacefully…you may feel a bit of discomfort." Valemeros confessed in a soft tone of comfort that was betrayed only by the sly smirk on his face.

The energy around his hand started to swirl wildly as he lowered his hand closer to her chest, hovering hid palm over her heart, the energy light flickering in the man's eyes before his smirk faded and he let out a light growl, plunging his hand deep into her chest. Sheena's body tensed as her mouth opened to scream but no sound came out as she twisted painfully on the bed but yet she could not twist away from his hand, like he had her pinned to the bed.

Valemeros grunted once as he struggled to gain a firm hold on her heart, leaning in close he whispered close to Sheena's ear. "Give it up, Verius…the more…you struggle…the more damage is caused to Sheena." He threatened before managing to grip his fingers around Sheena's beating heart. "There…was that so hard?" he chuckled.

Sizzling filled the air as Valemeros felt Sheena's heart burn while in his grip, an acid that tore through the energy surrounding his hand and ate right through his glove in mere seconds, feeling his skin start to burn, Valemeros screamed in agony as he ripped his hand out of Sheena's chest and actually fell off the bed, cradling his hand to his chest as he breathed out in short bursts of pain.

"My Lord!" Cecil yelled as he burst into the chambers, responding to the screams of his lord.

"Lord Valemeros!" Monique cried out as she pushed passed Cecil and rushed to his side, dropping her staff as it clanged against the carpet.

A faint trail of smoke floated up from Valemeros while the sound of sizzling calmed down in a matter of seconds, his groan sounded in the air while he hunched over his wounded hand.

Valemeros shot a glare at the sleeping ninja on the bed as he sat up, his right hand trembled uncontrollably as the elven lord looked down to assess the damage done to his hand.

The Exsphere was undamaged as well as the crest that it was rest on, that was a reassuring minor plus; however, the surface skin showed signs of mana burns, searing his skin and even charring his hand in few select spots. His fingernails were melted to the tips of his fingers as well, Valemeros reached over to his burnt ring finger as he slowly, carefully pulled the shining golden ring on his finger, grunting in pain as he felt skin being pulled off by the edges of the ring; dropping the ring to the carpet, Valemeros screamed out once more while trying to regain himself.

"Oh Valemeros," Monique whispered as she felt tears coming to her eyes at seeing her lord in such pain and agony, when he hunched over his wounded hand again, she placed her hands on his shoulder blades and rested her head in the middle of his back.

Cecil gave a growl as he brought the blade to rest on Sheena's neck, glancing over to his wounded lord. "Want me to take her head, My Lord?" Cecil coldly stated.

"No!" Valemeros screamed out in pained anger. "Monique, get off me and help me to my feet." Valemeros whispered.

"Right away, Lord Valemeros," Monique nodded as she quickly wiped away her tears and then hooked Valemeros by his good arm, looping it over her shoulder and then aiding him to his feet. Thankfully he did most of the work, he just wanted to be safe and make sure he was not weaker than he thought he would be.

"Cecil…my ring." Valemeros uttered in agony, a mist of sweat already surfacing on his forehead.

"At once, my lord," Cecil replied; he slid his sword back to his side and walked over, kneeling down and picking up the beautifully-crafted, signet ring. He shivered once in disgust before pulling a loose cloth from his pocket and wiping the ring free from cooked blood and burnt flesh.

"Monique, cloth…clean cloth, find it and bring it to me." Valemeros had already gone a sickly pale from the coursing pain, attitude wise he seemed to be calming down.

Monique gave a quick nod as she walked over to Cecil, grabbing her smooth silk shoulder sash she tore a sizeable strip; she did not care that it was her favorite sash that she was tearing.

Carefully pulling his hand away from the cradled position against his gut, Valemeros glanced down; trying to determine what caused the damage so quickly. The depth of burns, the look of the burns and then the shimmering tint it left behind actually told Valemeros everything he needed to know as he let out a deep-throated, yet low growl.

'_Miasma,_' Valemeros thought to himself.

It seemed that in order to defend Sheena's heart, Verius had released the poison toxic to burn and infect Valemeros, a poison known only as miasma. The poison was known to burn away any sources of mana and devouring life from victims caught in its deadly properties. There were always different levels of miasma, the natural poisons of the world killed people at a slow rate, this was acid miasma—a sever concentration of the gas, obviously concurred by the summon spirit of the heart.

Sheena still peacefully slept, which also meant that she was not being affected by the miasma, it was a solid defense against Valemeros and he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

Monique handed Valemeros the piece of her sash as he pulled the strip of cloth from her hands and crudely wrapped it around his hand. Valemeros wanted to keep it from bleeding out too much; he would deal with this wound later. Healing a miasma inflicted wound would not be easy and he did not have the time to deal with it at the moment…right now he wanted to deal with the source that caused this and punish Verius through Sheena.

"Think you can protect her through everything…don't you?" Valemeros called out in the direction of Sheena as he stepped back to the edge of the bed, staring down at the woman, Valemeros slide his good hand into one of the pockets of his robe before sitting down on the beds edge.

Pulling out a small marble like gem from his robe he leaned in closer and pushed her hair away from her forehead; now leaning in close enough to whisper into her ear as he placed the gem on her forehead.

"What is more powerful Verius?...the heart…or the mind?" Valemeros challenged. "I guess we shall find out when the time is right." He gave a weak, pained chuckle before pushing the gem against Sheena's forehead; the gem started to shimmer to life before it seemed to meld in with Sheena's skin and then sink into her head before disappearing completely.

Sheena gave a groan of discomfort the moment the object was pushed into her forehead.

"Now…when the time comes, this is what shall happen." Valemeros voiced in a low, sly manner.

Valemeros continued to whisper into Sheena's ear.

-Scene Change-

Sheena moaned softly while she felt her senses start to wake her from her slumber; her eyes cracked open as she shook her head very lightly to try and wake herself faster. She brought a hand to her forehead to try and calm the agonizing headache she was experiencing. Her throat was painfully dry, like she was severely dehydrated.

"What…happened?" Sheena muttered softly.

Sheena struggled to focus on something, anything around her but all she saw was a black haze with two matching green light bulbs.

"Cat?" Sheena asked in a dry, hoarse tone.

"I don't think you would believe me if I told you no, so we'll stick with the painfully obvious." Cat responded in a gentle purr, bringing her paw up to her lips as she licked the surface.

"What happened?" she asked while weakly pulling her weight off the bed in a groan.

"Umm, I do not know if you are aware of this or not…but you were asleep." Cat replied with a sarcastic tone.

"Not helpful." Sheena sighed out; she felt so light-headed and dazed while feeling physically drained causing her to be fatigued. "Last thing I remember…" Sheena trailed off, trying to search her memories for any recollection at all.

"Might help if you remembered that," Cat casually remarked.

As hard as she tried, Sheena could not remember for the life of her what happened before she passed off to sleep and worse yet, every time she attempted to remember only made her headache worse.

Cat gave a light shrug while Sheena struggled with her memory.

"Cat…did anything happen while I was asleep?" Sheena whispered, glancing over to the black feline.

'_Do not tell her anything, my feline companion._' Cat remembered Valemeros demanding of her after he shoved some strange gem into her head. Cat contemplated his demand for a moment before she closed her eyes in a carefree manner and started to lick the back of her other paw. "I was taking my 8 hour feline nap." Cat shrugged, purring while she groomed herself.

-Scene Change-

Valemeros walked into his library as he started to clumsily shuffle through his text books, letting the other books fall to the ground.

"What are you looking for, My Lord?" Cecil asked while staying off to the side, out of his lord's way.

The books continued to fall to the ground, answering Cecil's questions with the sounds of the books thumping against the ground.

'_Here it is,_" Valemeros thought to himself while pulling out one of the research texts.

"Lord Valemeros, I can heal that for you." Monique insisted.

"Don't raise you staff," Valemeros snapped slightly, making the woman take a surprised step back. Valemeros let out a sigh and dropped the book onto his desk, letting it fall open while he rifled through the pages. "Do not be so quick to heal something that you know nothing about, Monique." Valemeros added to it, making the red haired woman nod slowly.

"What is it that has burned you, My Lord?" Cecil asked while trying to maintain a calm tone.

Valemeros glanced up to his two trusted companions and then waved them over with his good hand; when they closed the distance Valemeros placed his index finger to the article in the book.

"Miasma?" Monique blinked in a combination of surprise and dread.

"How is that possible?" Cecil asked in a bewildered manner.

"That is not important, what is important is that miasma consumes and taints mana. If you tried to heal a miasma infected wound through healing arts, the poison would taint the holy energy and turn it acid. You would end up doing more harm than good; why else do you think I have not attempted to heal it myself." Valemeros stated plainly.

"I'm sorry, Lord Valemeros, I did not know." Monique lowered her head.

"Is there a way to cure it, My Lord?" Cecil asked.

Valemeros trailed his finger along the text in the book, reading quickly through the notes. His right hand continued to convulse in a sporadic and unpredictable fashion.

"Indeed there is, miasma may taint any forms of mana concentrated to use magic; however, natural mana in a certain combination shall purify the taint from my hand." Valemeros remarked.

"Natural mana?" Cecil asked lightly.

"You mean herbs, Lord Valemeros?" Monique guessed.

"Yes, herbs of elven nature…thankfully, Exire shall have everything that we will need with what they grow here." Valemeros nodded. "Monique, Cecil, I shall require you both to do some shopping for me." He chuckled in a weak manner while cradling his right forearm to his body once more.

"It shall be my pleasure, Lord Valemeros." Monique answered with a relieved smile.

Valemeros slowly sat in his chair as he would await the return of Monique and Cecil, waiting for the ingredients to be brought to him.

It was then that he closed his eyes, only for the cheerful and childish voices to enter the room making the nobles eyes shot open in irritation.

"Sylph, do not pester me now." Valemeros groaned as he lifted his good hand to rub his temples.

"Well oooookkkaaayyyy." Spoke one of the three.

"But if you do—" the second spoke.

"Than we won't tell you who wishes to speak with you." Completed the third.

Valemeros felt a grin pull at the corners of his lips as he looked over to the three cheerful, little wind sprites.

"Is that so? Well then why didn't you say so to begin with?" Valemeros smirked; he leaned forward against the desk.

'_Finally…the plan can proceed then, it took you long enough…Mr. Irving._' Valemeros thought to himself as he chuckled in an amused manner.


	24. Extinction: the end of man

Chapter 24

Lloyd closed his eyes as he felt the pain pulse through his hand, the result of him punching the stone railing of the balcony on the noble's summer manor.

"Damn it! Do you hear me? I give…you win!" Lloyd growled in frustration.

No answer returned to his empty shouts into the night, Lloyd had spent the entire day trying to get the attention of Valemeros and get him to respond to his surrender.

Lloyd could not take it anymore, thinking of what he may do next to Sheena was only going to drive the young swordsman crazy and the fact that she was suffering because of him was tearing him open emotionally; the more Lloyd was allowed to be alone in his thoughts only served to tighten the emotional noose around his neck.

-Scene Change-

Valemeros looked down at his recovering hand, flexing his renewed fingers lightly. After Monique had applied the healing salve to his poisoned hand, the cold sensation overwhelmed his nerves and he felt its purifying effects almost instantly which was a good thing, it meant that the poison had not traveled to his heart yet. After the miasma was struck from his body, Monique was allowed to cast her healing arts on his hand, he could not use magic himself, the salve was a mana neutralizer and so it negated his own mana focus.

"How…are you feeling, Lord Valemeros?" Monique whispered softly.

"Hmhm…I am perfectly fine, my thanks to you, beautiful dove." Valemeros chuckled as he lifted his renewed hand to stroke the cheek of Monique, making her give a light gasp before the blush surfaced to her cheeks. "It is only fair, you brought my hand back that it is you who should feel its first caress." He smirked causally before turning around to look towards the window.

"I…uh…" Monique blushed; she closed her eyes and let herself become silent, not seeing a need to ruin her graceful image with clumsy words. His warm fingers were soon robbed from her cheek as she opened her eyes in protest before she saw Valemeros walking down the hallway. "L-Lord Valemeros, were are you going?" Monique asked quickly.

"I think I have recovered enough to pay Mr. Irving the visit he so desires." Valemeros chuckled.

"Want us to come with you, My Lord?" Cecil asked calmly.

"Hmhm, no...This one I shall take care of," Valemeros started as he looked to his renewed hand once more, closing it tight and then relaxing his finger before he let a surge of mana flow through the surface, reassuring him that he had access to his spells once more. "By myself." Valemeros complete before pulling a new black glove over his right hand.

-Scene Change-

Lloyd pressed his teeth together painfully once more as his muscles trembled from allowing himself to become so tense. It had been hours Lloyd called out to Valemeros and there was still no sign of the man; Lloyd had been left wondering if the man heard his voice at all…but if he didn't than he did not know how else to get the man's attention.

The echoed sound of footsteps filled the night air that was filled only with the sound of the gentle waves against the sands. Lloyd let out a grunt as he turned around to face the location where the footsteps were coming from. They were not coming from the hallways like he originally thought; his eyes darted towards the stairs that wrapped around the house and led to the rooftop balcony of the manor. Grabbing both handles of his swords he let the steel slide against the sheaths, giving a low toned growl while his fingers tightened around the hilts.

The majestic black robes grazed along the smooth, polished rock of the manor while the man descended down the stairs towards the balcony.

"Where are my manners, I kept you waiting…didn't I?" Valemeros chuckled; his rich imperial purple eyes gazing towards the tense swordsman.

"Valemeros," Lloyd growled lightly.

"Why is it…you always feel compelled to say my name with such resentment, to me it sounds far too cliché." Valemeros shrugged passively.

"Sheena…where is she?" Lloyd demanded, taking one step forward.

"Have you come to honor our little…arrangement then?" Valemeros smirked with a tilt to his head.

"Not without seeing Sheena," Lloyd snapped; his swords rattled lightly from the tense grip he had on their hilts.

"Hmhmhm, how utterly amusing…do you actually think you have any power or control in this meeting?" Valemeros chuckled while folding his arms. "When a chained dog tries to run free…it is up to the master to give it a good yank and keep it in line…need I remind you, I hold all the cards to this meeting…the worst that you can do is refuse me the location of the exospheres, which would be an admirable feat of courage for a human such as yourself." Valemeros stated in a calm manner while continuing to close the distance.

Lloyd could not hold onto his tempter anymore, the emotions that were tearing at the seams of his heart burst to their limit the moment that Valemeros closed in on him. Lloyd let out a battle cry as he dashed forward, swiping rashly, yet skillfully with his swords. The swords closed in on the neck of Valemeros before Lloyd felt paralyses suddenly take his body; Lloyd's eyes widened as he tried to move but only say Valemeros with his hand raised towards his chest.

"You just…do not understand, do you?" Valemeros chuckled. "I control everything…everything your beloved ninja was too afraid to master…the flight and speed provided by wind, the intensity and strength of fire, the durability of the very earth…and everything that is water is mine to control…including the water in your body, Mr. Irving." Valemeros smirked, keeping Lloyd frozen in spoke.

"Damn…you…Valemeros," Lloyd grunted as he struggled against the invisible binds that Valemeros had over him. This only confirmed what Lloyd had suspected, the more time that passed, the more powerful Valemeros was becoming.

"You have two options here, Mr. Irving. You can tell me the location of the Exspheres and I shall keep to my promise and release Sheena AFTER I have my hands on the Exspheres or…you can valiantly reject my kind offer, show your pride, courage and determination…but let me ask you this simple…little question." Valemeros trailed off as he leaned closer, reaching up to grab Lloyd by the neck covering that his red jacket provided. "While you thump your chest in pride…how much longer can Sheena suffer before she ends up giving me what you were too stubborn to give?" Valemeros grinned amused.

Lloyd pressed his teeth together before he felt a helpless tremble run through his body and his head slowly lowered. Valemeros probably saw his defeat and released him from the binding he was under because Lloyd was allowed to fall to his knees.

"I want…to see Sheena…first." Lloyd whispered out helplessly.

"And I told you…you are not the one in control of this meeting, the way I see it…I get what I want either way, this deal is just my…generosity, do not test what patience I actually have left." Valemeros warned, smirking down at the defeated 'hero'.

"How…can I trust you to live up to your word?" Lloyd breathed out, keeping his head down while the hopelessness feeling of defeat washed over his form.

"You can't…but you don't have any other choice." Valemeros responded sharply.

Lloyd's mind raced as his fingers dragged along the smooth rock of the balcony, now that he was actually at this moment he did not know if he could go through with it. The memory of those who suffered around him at the hands of the Exspheres surfaced in his mind, he would be betraying every single one of them if he handed them over to Valemeros. Then Sheena's face passed through his memory, making his eyes open wide as he breathed in deeply.

Her gently, caring eyes stood out in his mind as he pictured her smiling one last time before she faded from his mind.

'I promised…to protect you…always.' Lloyd thought to himself.

Somehow that gave him a renewed courage, strength and resolve as he slowly stood back to his feet. His head lifted as he defiantly stared directly into Valemeros's eyes, his hands tensing into tight balled up fists.

"I'll show you where they are…You better bring Sheena back to me, Valemeros." Lloyd responded in a firm, demanding tone.

Valemeros gave a content grin.

-Scene change-

"It is done, the deal has been made." Luna whispered, her tone that of elegant beauty.

"Then it is time, Monique, we shall bring Sheena back to Luin." Cecil nodded. "Just as the Lord ordered us to do."

"I do not mind, if you ask me…she should have been gone long ago." Monique shrugged as she rested the staff on her shoulder.

-Scene change-

Valemeros stepped through the shadows using the techniques that he acquired from siphoning power from Shadow, Lloyd followed close behind, using the same portal that Valemeros opened.

"And…where is this?" Valemeros questioned, glancing around the surroundings.

"You don't care, so I won't explain." Lloyd frowned, holding onto as much resolve as he could, believing that he would soon be able to see Sheena. He did not trust Valemeros to keep to his word, but the noble was right in stating that Lloyd had no other choice. "Over here." Lloyd commented as he stepped passed Valemeros and walked towards a blank patch of dirt.

"Hm, you buried them?" Valemeros addressed before glancing to the side, seeing markers that could resemble grave marks along with burnt out scent sticks that were known to be used for ceremonial purpose in Mizuho. "You regard them as the dead."

"They are…Exspheres are made from the lives of humans." Lloyd snapped in a cold tone.

"To you…to me, they serve a better purpose." Valemeros replied.

Lloyd pressed his teeth together as he gave a light grunt, watching as Valemeros pulled on his right glove, tightening the fabric to his hand before the mana surged along the surface. The ground rumbled as the earth of the graves started to break apart; Lloyd could only watch as the Exspheres rose to the surface by the will of Valemeros as he manipulated the earth that once protected them all.

'_I'm…so sorry…_' Lloyd thought to himself as he forced his gaze to the side, closing his eyes from his own shame. He did not feel regret for his choice however, because he had a small hope that this would bring Sheena back to him…and together they would put a stop to Valemeros before he could complete his plans.

"I kept my side of the bargain, Valemeros." Lloyd uttered under his breath.

"As I have kept mine," Valemeros chuckled in an amused manner, glancing over his shoulder towards the red swordsman.

"Where is she?" Lloyd demanded.

Valemeros waved his hand as the shadows circled around his form and created a swirling shadow portal once more. "I thought it would only be suiting that she be brought to Luin." He chuckled.

Lloyd did not think twice about running into the portal, all he could think about was that Sheena was on the other side of the portal. The world flashed before him as he jumped through the portal, his feet touching on solid ground as he instantly scanned his surrounding to figure out where he actually was and found himself surprised that so far Valemeros was keeping to his word and Lloyd found himself in the ruins of Luin.

"Sheena? SHEENA!" Lloyd yelled in the air, his eyes darting around.

"Oh I kept my word…she is coming," Valemeros voiced behind Lloyd, a cold tingle in the air gave Lloyd a sense of unease. "You just won't be alive when she comes!" Valemeros exclaimed out loud.

Lloyd pulled both swords free from their sheaths and crossed them over his head as the crystalline, mana-fused sword of Valemeros clashed against Lloyd's swords, twisting around, Lloyd tossed the sword to the side and swiped at the elven lords body.

Valemeros jumped back to avoid the counter but managed to close the distance with surprising speed as he slashed with overwhelming speed fused with unrelenting power, knocking Lloyd off balance with each blow as he grunted to block the attacks and find an opening in his combinations but Valemeros didn't seem to give any. Lloyd would have to make an opening himself as he leaned his weight into his left sword on the next block before running against the elven lord, swiping his sword to the side so it would knock Valemeros's sword to the side as well, creating the opening he so desired. Stabbing with his right sword, Lloyd was shocked when he heard the sound of his sword sliding against the surface of Valemeros's sword again as his blow deflected to the side. He could not spare even a second to consider how that happened, just try to keep up the offense.

"Sword Rain!" Lloyd screamed as the Exsphere in his hand gave a bright glow, he stabbed vigorously but was distressed to find that his stabs met nothing but air, Valemeros managed to dodge every single attempt with a mocking laughter.

"Surely you can do more than this." Valemeros taunted.

"Hurricane Thrust!" Lloyd focused his forced and speed into a single thrust, normally it would not be able to be seen; however, Lloyd was shocked again as he thrusted hard and could only watch as Valemeros dodged to the side, his imperial eyes looking down at Lloyd as he let out a scoffing chuckle. Lloyd twisted around to stop the force of his thrust and jumped into the air before diving down with the agility of a swooping bird of prey. "Rising Falcon!" Lloyd called out. His sword swooped down on the noble but once more his sword slashed through nothing but air as the noble stepped to the side effortlessly, Lloyd's feet dug into the ground causing it to crumble under his force. Lloyd focused the primal energy deep within, kicking off the ground again, Lloyd spun in the air with both sides extended out at his sides. "Tempest Beast!" Lloyd screamed as the very force of his swords ripping through the air was enough to crumble the earth he leapt over.

"Don't you ever learn anything new?" Valemeros smirked, lifting his sword up to block the attack like he had done earlier.

The surprise this time would fall on Valemeros, the force of the Tempest empowered by Lloyd's drive and resolve proved to be stronger then the noble had predicted as his sword was hit to the side and he found himself knocked off balance.

"Wha—" Valemeros blinked.

The force of the Tempest tore through the ground that he stood on; Valemeros felt the steel of Lloyd's blades tear through the cloth of his robes, Lloyd then slammed his feet to the ground in a minor explosion that sent Valemeros stumbling forward. Lloyd would not let the noble recover for even a moment as he stepped forward, slamming his shoulder into the back of Valemeros, the surge of energy broke through the air, the sound of the energy consuming the once dormant air made the sound of an angered beast as the head of the lion crashed into Valemeros, sending the elven noble tumbling to the ground.

Lloyd raised both swords high while Valemeros's form rolled along the unturned ground, Lloyd stabbed his swords into the ground as the focused energy shot forward from each sword.

"Double Demon Fang!"

While Valemeros tumbled along the ground he managed to push his hand into the ground, flipping on one arm and landing on his feet while gripping his sword firmly. The energy from the demon fang followed close behind and both slammed into Valemeros as he let out a grunt and buckled down to one knee.

"Not…possible." Valemeros grunted he had never fought Lloyd that was this driven by resolve. He was learning exactly what the eternal swordsman was capable of.

"Valemeros!" Lloyd yelled as he pulled the swords from the ground and dashed towards the prone noble.

Valemeros grit his teeth together as he lifted his sword to block the attack but Lloyd only slashed upwards, knocking the sword into the air as Valemeros rune blade clanged in the distance leaving the noble to stare at Lloyd with wide bewildered eyes.

"You…little human…scum…" Valemeros cussed.

"It ends here Valemeros!" Lloyd yelled, wasting no time to slash down at him with both swords.

Nothing could prepare Lloyd for what would happen next as Valemeros placed both his hands above him, the two swords seemingly blocked by nothing but air. Mana particles gathered in the air and solidified into a rich purple blade, outlined by a shimmering rainbow glow, the golden design of the hilt only confirmed what Lloyd had feared.

Valemeros swiped up, the power of the sword made one single swipe tear the ground asunder and the wind blast Lloyd off the ground as he was flung helplessly into the air, the winds swirling with such force that Lloyd could not recover enough to land, instead crashing to the ground hard.

'_Damnit…he activated it…the Eternal Sword_.' Lloyd cursed in thought.

"I am done toying with humans." Valemeros spoke in resentment as he stood to his feet.

Lloyd could only lift his sword in defense as he got back to his feet, Valemeros stabbed into the air as the Eternal Sword flickered, mana burst from the edge in the shapes of crescent moons before the hundreds of moons swirled into a tornado that ripped through the ground and shot towards the red swordsman; the size of the tornado made Lloyd realize that he would not be able to dodge this attack and it's chaotic twisting made it unpredictable, the speed adding the knowledge of outrunning it an impossible task.

"Guardian." Lloyd called out as he crossed both his swords in front of himself, the green barrier surrounding Lloyd.

The tornado composed of mana consumed Lloyd, shattering Guardian effortlessly as Lloyd screamed, feeling the crescent moons tear through his flesh as his body was tossed off the ground.

Lloyd crashed to the ground once against as the breath was shoved out of his body on impact; Lloyd fought hard just to get to his feet again, the sensation of fresh warm blood soaked into his torn clothing as he grunted out trying to regain his breath.

'_It can't end like this_,' Lloyd thought in agony; his eyes widened realizing that Valemeros had somehow already closed the distance between them as he slashed with the Eternal Sword, raising his swords in a futile attempt to block its power.

Lloyd breathed out in shocked as the Eternal Sword shattered both of Lloyd's sword, watching as the swords of master craft by his father were reduced to steel shards before the power that Valemeros now commanded.

Valemeros grabbed Lloyd by the scuff of his jacket once more as he lifted him into the air and then fused his hand with mana, calling on his mastery of the summon spirits. Lloyd screamed in agony as a snake composed of fire slithered along Valemeros arm and then constricted around Lloyd's body before exploded and sending the swordsman into the air and crashing to the ground once more, Lloyd raised his head from his kneeling position as he grunted in pain. Valemeros closed his hand into a fist, the earth came to life. A bright white flash of pain blinded him for a moment, feeling his arms throb in misery while becoming paralyzed. Lloyd opened his eyes through the torment to see two spikes composed of rock had shot from the earth and impaled both of Lloyd's shoulders, forcing Lloyd to drop the hilts of his shattered swords.

"Your foolish resistance ends here, Mr. Irving." Valemeros spoke in disgust before a smirk of amusement crossed his lips while lifting the Eternal Sword high.

The sword burned to life as the aura of mana around the sword thickened, Lloyd attempted to struggled, but the earth that impaled his shoulders kept the man pinned down to a kneel. Lloyd could even see particles of mana floating in the air and gathering at the swords blade; Valemeros was using the sword as a focus.

"Suffer the fate that awaits the rest of you humans!" Valemeros grinned.

Lloyd pulled against the restraints but was only rewarded with crippling pain as he realized the earth was impaled between the bones in his shoulders. He could only watch helplessly as the mana gathered enough before bursting into a wide, pillar of burning mana that touched into the heavens above. The pillar of mana becoming a tower wide and seemingly having the same height as the tower of mana for it looked to have no end.

"Extinction!" Valemeros yelled out.

Lloyd felt his heart skip a beat as he could only look up and watched as Valemeros brought the tower of burning mana down towards the earth. It did not take a genius to know that that amount of mana would burn through him and anything else caught in its path of destruction…yet he could do nothing more than wait for it come down on him.

Valemeros grinned as the pillar engulfed the lands in front of him; the earth quaked under the force of the destruction and all Valemeros could see was the bright energy of the mana in front of him; however, Valemeros was content knowing that everything was being incinerated. The mana finally faded as Valemeros lowered the tip of Eternal Sword's edge to the ground as he breathed in a steady fatigue while his eyes looked over the barren path of destruction that had been left in the wake of Extinction. Valemeros lifted the sword to rest it on his shoulder as he let out a victorious chuckle and turned around, raising his hand as he focused the energy of shadow.

Rubble shifted behind him as Valemeros blinked once and glanced over his shoulder just in time to see dirt kicking up from behind one of the huge boulders of debris.

"What?" Valemeros whispered to himself as he turned around and started his walk towards the boulder. Touching the tip of the Eternal Sword to the oversized rock, he watched as it crumbled to pebbles and then covered his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his torn robe, closing his eyes for a moment to protect himself from the kicked up dirt.

The dust cleared and Valemeros saw it for himself, with surprised eyes he leaned forward to see Lloyd laying there on the ground, his jacket completely burned away, blood coming out of the wounds caused by the crescent moons, the wounds that were not burned closed by Valemeros's fire serpent. The swordsman gave out a grunt of agony as he attempted to move, but the fresh gaping holes in his shoulders robbed him of blood and strength.

"Your resilience is something to admire, Mr. Irving." Valemeros chuckled out once as he started to kick the rocks to the side that were lying on top of the man. "However, this is not some fairy tale story…I am hardly the type to just leave you for dead…instead, I just want to make sure you are dead." Valemeros smirked.

With that said, Valemeros lifted the sword and stabbed it deep into Lloyd's sternum as he felt the chest bone crunch and shattered under the blade; Valemeros watched as Lloyd's eyes burst open and he found the strength through the threat of death to reach up and grab the Eternal Sword through blood soaked gloves. Lloyd coughed out as blood sputtered out of his mouth and Lloyd's body convulsed in agony. Valemeros smirked as he released the hilt of the Eternal Sword and then casually kneeled beside the dying human.

"Do not take this personally, Mr. Irving," Valemeros casually started, watching Lloyd's fingers slide down the surface of the blade, leaving a blood trail behind. "But I know what you are capable of and I know you have fought the odds before…and won…you are my greatest threat." Valemeros confessed while Lloyd continued to choke on his own blood. "It is a shame actually…I expected more of you." Valemeros shrugged casually while reaching up and grabbing the hilt of the sword again.

Valemeros sealed Lloyd's fate by twisting the sword, hearing the shatter of the ribcage, followed by the violent watery gagging of Lloyd drowning in his own blood. His body convulsed. Valemeros gave a grin as he leaned forward, cradling Lloyd's head so the man would be forced to look at him, making him Lloyd's last sight he would ever see.

"Goodbye…Mr. Irving." Valemeros grinned.

He watched as the life faded from Lloyd's eyes and his body went limp on the ground; Valemeros traced his fingers over his eyes as they shut. Standing to his feet, Valemeros yanked the sword from the chest.

"My Lord!" Cecil called from the distance.

Valemeros glanced over his shoulder and watched as Cecil and Monique both ran towards him.

"Lord Valemeros, we lost her." Monique confessed in an ashamed manner.

"Hm? What do you mean you lost her?" Valemeros blinked, waving the sword once as it crumbled into mana particles.

"When we brought her down, she ran into the forest." Cecil confessed.

"Hmhm…that will not matter, let her discover the truth on her own…her will shall crumble when she discovers the fate of her lover." Valemeros smirked as he glanced over to the slain form of Lloyd. "I have the location of the Exspheres…that is what is important right now, let us take our leave." Valemeros nodded.

"Lord Valemeros, are you alright?" Monique asked in a worried tone, noticing the tears in his robe and even the hints of blood behind the slashed cloth.

"I can assure you, I am quite fine." Valemeros stated before stopping in mid-step and then glancing over his shoulder one last time to Lloyd, the violent gash in his chest was all the proof he needed that Lloyd was dead, but he needed to be absolutely sure as he turned around and then walked back over to Lloyd.

"My Lord?" Cecil asked confused, only to be answered by Valemeros lifting his hand to silence the young man.

Valemeros kneeled down once more beside Lloyd as he pulled the glove off his hand so he could place his index and middle finger to his neck and pressed his fingers against it…no pulse.

Chuckling silently, Valemeros stood to his feet again.

It was over…Lloyd was dead.


	25. Verius's sacrifice

Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I thought about leaving this story alone for afew days and letting my dear readers suffer a little at the unexpected turn of events that happened last chapter…but I have had a change of heart. So I know it is brief but without further delay…Chapter 25

Sheena raced through the forest lines after being brought here by the duo that belonged to Valemeros, she was skeptical at first of their intention when they first escorted her from her room. She did not know what to think of Valemeros living to his word and freeing her after he gained what he wished. Sheena jumped up to a tree branch and managed to balance herself almost instantly as she glanced behind her where she was running from.

"Next time…warn me before you dash off like that." Cat spoke in a purr as she faded into existence, sitting on the tree branch beside Sheena.

"Hey, it was you that said they were bringing me into the forest to kill me." Sheena snapped in a soft whisper, regaining her breath.

"No, I said that this is how it always happens in the books after the main antagonist has used up the usefulness of their captor." Cat purred lightly while her tail swayed back and forth. "It could have been worse…could have made you his evil bride." Cat teased in a playful manner.

"That is not funny," Sheena snapped, feeding a glare to her feline companion.

"So since we are freed, that means that dum-dum gave in and told the puffy shirt what he wanted to know." Cat pointed out, her green eyes scanning the area. "We are not being followed by the way, I would have heard it." Cat added in.

"That is not important right now," Sheena was quick to reply. '_What is important is that I must get to him._' She thought to herself, her eyes turning up towards the skies.

"Wait a minute, you have been suffering for days over these Exspheres and now they are not important? Human nature is just not worth trying to understand." Cat shook her head lightly.

"Lloyd has his reasons…we just need to find him." Sheena smiled with a light, self-assuring nod.

"You put a lot of faith in lover-boy." Cat purred curiously.

"I do…" Sheena confessed without second thought.

"Why?" Cat could not help but ask.

"Too many reasons to explain, every single one of them more convincing then the next and you need to know him to believe them...just believe me when I say he deserves my faith." Sheena spoke softly with a light smile, remembering when Lloyd never gave up on her even though she had given up on herself.

"I don't have a choice but to believe him…I'm bound to that ring, so whatever you do and where ever you go—I must follow." Cat yawned casually.

A desperate energy coursed through her body coupled with the feel of excitement at being free and allowed to find Lloyd. Sheena first needed to gain her bearing and find out where she was; leaping from branch to branch, the female ninja now sat at the top of the tree so she could figure out just how deep in the forest she was.

Sheena was pleasantly surprised to see that Luin was actually not too far away, feeling a relieved smile come to her face, she knew Lloyd would certainly find her there. Her relief was short lived however as she saw a tornado composed of mana rise into the sky, soon followed by a loud scream of agony that made her heart drop instantly to the bottoms of her feet.

"Lloyd…" Sheena whispered in dread. Her eyes over the trees to determine the quickest route to Luin, grabbing one of the thicker tree branches, Sheena pulled as hard as she could. The branch finally cracked and broke a branch thick enough to count as a two-handed mace. Placing it on her shoulder she turned her gaze towards Luin and jumped down from the trees; landing perfectly on the branch, Sheena dashed through the tree tops as quick as her legs would carry her.

'_Lloyd…I'm coming…please hold on!_' Sheena's mind screamed, driving her to leap from branch to branch faster.

Using her free hand, Sheena grabbed her sleeve and tore the fabric from her shoulder; the tear already revealed a hidden seal that Sheena had sewn into her purple tunic, grabbing the piece of paper she looked at it with a desperate hope.

'_Good…just what I was hoping for._' Sheena's mind voiced before Sheena put the seal between her lips and bit down on it to keep the seal in easy access.

The ground rumbled as the trees rattled violently, actually making Sheena stop to regain her balance as her eyes followed a sudden massive pillar of swirling mana. Her heart beat rapidly as her breath caught in her throat and struck fear deep into her soul; she knew that the pillar of mana was meant for Lloyd and such a massive gathering of concentrated mana meant that Lloyd had little chance of surviving the attack if he was hit by it. If anyone could survive it though, Sheena knew it would be Lloyd and she had to believe that.

'_Please…Verius…protect Lloyd._' Sheena pleaded.

Regaining her balance, Sheena dashed along the tree branches once more.

'_What would you be willing to do to help him?_' Verius asked from deep within Sheena's heart.

'_You do not even need to ask…my heart is an open book to you_.' Sheena responded while keeping her focus ahead of her.

'_Will you share his pain?_' Verius asked.

'_If it would save him, then yes._' Sheena responded, tears were lining the bottom of her eyes hearing Verius speak like this, like he was predicting Lloyd's demise.

'_Then let it be so_.' Verius whispered.

Sheena felt a warmth through her body as Verius filled her with mana and she suddenly heart another heartbeat in her head, Lloyd's heart beat…she knew it was his.

'_I can only do this once Sheena, then I shall need to regain my strength._' Verius confessed.

Sheena only gave a nod while sprinting along the tree branches, her heart gave a jump when she saw the ruin of Luin through the green leafs. Sheena jumped down to touch to the ground and dashed to the forests edge; the sight she saw horrified her as she came just in time to see the pillar of mana crash down on Lloyd.

Agony instantly paralyzed her body as Sheena dropped the tree branch, her body slammed against the tree closest to her as she grabbed her heart and felt her body become overwhelmed with the sensation that could only be described as shattering to pieces, her body felt like it was suddenly made of glass and someone had just smashed her to pieces. Her organs already started to fail her as blood trickled from the corner of her lips. She could swear she heard the cracking of the bones in her body and her world faded from the welcoming blackness; Sheena fought hard against the release of unconsciousness, she would endure the brutal pain if it meant staying awake.

'_Sheena…Sheena…_' Verius whispered.

Her world started to blacken, she could do nothing more to fight it. Her eyes started to close as her body became limp.

'_Sheena…_' she suddenly heard Lloyd whisper in her mind.

Her brown eyes burst open when she heard Lloyd whispering in her mind, letting out a desperate gasp as she shivered in agonized trauma before somehow finding the resolve to push herself back to her feet, picking up the tree branch while doing so.

Sheena's sight was hazed, her body spent and yet she somehow found the resolve and strength to push herself back to her feet. She walked as Valemeros started to walk towards the large boulder where she could only assume Lloyd was. She could die if she was caught but she would rather perish with Lloyd then stand by and watch him die.

'_Just…need a little more…strength…_' Sheena pleaded to herself.

Sheena dashed out from the forest edges, grabbing the seal from her lips as she placed it against the tree branch while her eyes closed for a moment to focus, the seal reacted by starting to give off a faint glow. Her eyes opened just in time to see Valemeros crumble the boulder and watched as he covered his mouth and turned his head away from the kicked up dust. This would be her only chance, desperation pushed her body to limits she had yet explored as she felt her legs pick up speed; the doorway would only be but a few seconds.

Sheena dropped the tree-branch by the severely damaged Lloyd she saw through the thick dust; kneeling down quickly she slipped her arms around his body and pulled him up from the debris, jumping to the side, Sheena did her best to flee the scene before the dust cleared.

Glancing over her shoulder for a moment, Sheena was relieved to see the tree branch transform into a perfect illusion of Lloyd and lay in wait for Valemeros. It was an ancient trick she was taught by her mentor in Mizuho.

Leaping into the tree line, Sheena disappeared into the bush, cradling Lloyd's body to her own as she held his head to her chest and watched the horrific sight unfold as Valemeros brutally killed who he thought was a wounded Lloyd. Sheena breathed heavily as her muscles cramped.

"Lloyd…" Sheena whispered down at him in a soft, comforting tone.

Sheena looked down at him, bleeding from over a dozen opening on his body, a tear slide down her touch and splashed against Lloyd's head as she lowered her head to his and held him close. Her heart becoming a turbulent storm mixed with dread, relief and sorrow as she held his bleeding body to her.

"It's ok Lloyd…everything is going to be ok…I'm here." Sheena whispered while she tried to calm his heavy breathing caused by the shock his body was going through. "Lloyd…stay with me please…don't leave me now." She whispered lifting her head just enough to look down at him with tear filled eyes. "Lloyd?" she asked helplessly.

She watched as his breathing became shallow, the bleeding was not stopping and there were too many wounds for her to try to stop. Fear took over her heart as she thought that she may have just delayed the inevitable.

"Lloyd…please don't leave me…please…" Sheena pleaded in helpless sorrow, leaning forward again so she could hold him close, whispering into his ear. "I need you…"

The illusion of the slain Lloyd, left in the valley sized crater by Extinction, flickered before turning back into a splintered tree branch—the seal darkened into charred paper.


	26. The fight with death, face of an angel

Chapter 26

"Lloyd...Lloyd!" a faint whisper sounded from the blackness that had dominated Lloyd's consciousness. The whispers slowly became louder; however the echoed tone it started to carry made it harder for the man to understand. "Say something…anything…" the echoed voice sounded from the blackness.

'_I…can't…_' Lloyd tried to answer back, only speaking through his thoughts.

"Lloyd…please…open your eyes!" the faint whisper echoed through the darkness that Lloyd saw.

'_I'm…trying…_' Lloyd replied, only to find his response falling on deaf ears; he was speaking to himself.

A spark of light tore through the shroud of blackness. Normally such a light might have proven to be comforting but not this time; the light washed over his sights and with it came the torture of crippling pain, like someone or something had crushed his bones to dust and he was left alive to experience every bit of agony it had to offer.

From the light came a blessing however as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, the first thing he focused on was the figure looming over him. Lloyd's consciousness allowed him to materialize the figure into the worried, yet still beautiful face of Sheena.

'_Oh...good…she…she's safe._' Lloyd thought to himself, the physical strain and fatigue actually made thinking a hard task.

"Lloyd!" Sheena almost screamed out, a pitch to her relieved tone that made Lloyd flinch; he knew that she did not intend for it but Lloyd's condition seemed to make him sensitive to movement, even the subtle movement caused by her vocal outburst. "You're alive…" she whispered, a fearful tremble now taking over her tone. "Just stay with me, Lloyd…keep fighting, I'll get help…I promise."

'_He…help?_' Lloyd's mind groaned before he felt his eyes gaze down, spotting a glint of red. '_Sheena…you're…covered…in blood…_' Lloyd felt his mind panic, even though he could do nothing about it. Lloyd could only wonder what had happened to her and what Valemeros did to her to make her bleed so much. '_W—wait…she doesn't…look hurt._' His mind confessed that was when Lloyd was allowed to remember.

-Brief flash back-

"Extinction!"

Lloyd struggled against the earth pikes that were impaled into his shoulders but every time he moved only worsened his condition. He could not move, he was going to die…forced to watch as the mass of swirling mana toppled down towards him.

The mana consumed his body, flushing deep into him as the mana bubbled the very blood in his veins. His muscles expanded until he swore that he could feel them tear off the very bones of his skeleton at least that was what agony was coursing through his body. The mana, so thick, so potent, and so intense—was slowly peeling the skin off his body. The mana was trying to take him apart piece by piece before completely destroying him.

'_You're time is not yet, Lloyd._' A male voice whispered in his head.

Verius.

Lloyd gave out a pained grunt as the vision disappeared from his mind, the very shift of air in his lungs made his world flash white as the trauma his body was put through quickly caught up to him.

"Lloyd! Don't give up!" Sheena screamed.

Her face blurred before the grasps of darkness consumed him world again, the pain dulled to a minor numb feeling before completely fading from his conscious mind…blackness would once more dominate his world.

'_That's…not…her blood…that's mine…_' Lloyd's mind eased, finding a strange comfort in knowing she was not harmed and relieved in thinking the amount of blood on her was his own. '_At least…I got to her see her…one last time._'

Heavy breathing was the next thing to enter the blackness of his world; he was left wondering for a moment on how he was still allowed to be conscious, or was this like some form of transition between life and death? All he knew was that he could not determine who the heavy breathing belong to at first until he once more watched as light started to shatter the darkness and the huffing started to become more clear to him…it was Sheena.

The light continued to tear his black world asunder before he was able to see the blurred vision of a green grass; however the blades of grass were moving too quickly for him to focus on. Pain was the next thing he was allowed to experienced as he realized his body was bouncing and the movement was jarring his sever wounds…he was able to determine that somehow he was still alive.

Sheena's huffing breathes registered in his mind fully as his glazed eyes glanced over to see the ebony locks of Sheena, she was carrying him on her back and running through the fields. Luin was a huge distance away from any civilization…yet she was trying, she was not giving up on him. Grunting in pain, Lloyd knew that he could not surrender to death just yet.

"Lloyd…save your strength, don't move." Sheena huffed out in a firm, commanding tone.

"She…" Lloyd uttered in a deathly whisper.

"I said shut up!" Sheena screamed.

Lloyd could tell that she was masking her pain by trying to be angry, when she screamed, the tone of worry and fear registered even in his ears and he was not able to focus on much. Somehow, the concept of death seemed to make him more aware of her tones however and how desperately she was trying to keep her energy and resolve.

Lloyd breathed out once in a shallow manner.

'_I…can't…give up…_' Lloyd thought, even though he could feel how soaked Sheena's tunic was getting by carrying his severely wounded body. Her strength was admirable; he had no way of telling how far she had been carrying him but the fact she was dashing with his weight on her bewildered his worn mind. _'I…don't…feel any pain anymore.'_ Lloyd thought.

"Lloyd! Don't you dare die on me." Sheena screamed again, her voice was getting weaker however and it showed as her speed decreased.

'_I'm…only weakening her…by making her worry._' Lloyd thought to himself, his eyes half closed.

The edges of blackness reappeared around his vision making Lloyd's heart thunder a single beat as the consuming void threatened to claim him once more. He was not sure if his eyes would open again if he let it come for him, he had to fight it—he had to try—he couldn't win.

Darkness grasped him fast, consciousness was instantly lost.

The sound of wind filled his consciousness, wind? Where did the wind come from? Where ever it seemed to come from, it seemed to slowly blow away the blackness and the only thing he could see was just a blue sky with clouds close up. He was flying through the air, perhaps this is the final step to accepting your death. People dream about flying all the time and as a final gesture, people are granted that wish as they fly to their final destination.

"Lloyd stay still…please do not move." Sheena whispered close to his ear so her voice could override the sounds of the gusting winds.

Cold air became a weapon as that element started to sting against the open wounds across Lloyd's body, acting like acid against his sensitive nerves as the sensation of pain was reintroduced to him while waking from his unconscious state.

"Be careful, he may go into shock." sounded a male voice, without seeing the face, Lloyd had no idea who it was and all he knew was they had to yell for Sheena to hear them and for Lloyd to barely make out what was said.

The next thing that came to the front of his mind was the pain, it was unbearable. His lungs locked up as he felt his world suddenly darken almost instantly, the last sight he saw was actually Sheena above him and then a quick flash of blue sky on the side.

"Lloyd no!" Sheena screamed.

Normally he would never wish to worry her but all he could think about was the fact that he was suddenly choking on a thick fluid, it had to be his own blood.

"Lloyd! Lloyd!" Sheena's desperate scream filled his darkness.

'_You cannot surrender now, Lloyd._' the familiar voice of Verius sounded in his head.

'_I'm trying Verius...trust me...I am not giving up in my mind...but...but every time I return to my body...I think it will give up on me._' Lloyd confessed fearfully.

'_Do you trust Sheena?_' Verius's calm voice asked.

'_What? What kind of question is that?_' Lloyd replied somewhat defensively.

'_Do not seek an enemy within my question, Lloyd. Just answer, if anything but to humor me._' Verius responded in calming tone.

'Of...of course I do...with my life.' Lloyd confessed.

'_Then leave your body in her care, Lloyd. Trust that she has not abandoned you and focus on staying alive...inside._' Verius whispered, his voice seemed to come from everywhere in the darkness.

'_What can I do? All I see is darkness._' Lloyd sighed defeated.

'_You need to overcome it._' Verius confirmed.

'_Verius...I..._' Lloyd hesitated for a moment in asking his next request of the summon spirit but then realized he had no choice. '_I need your...help..._'

'_I can only do so much._' Verius responded. '_You cannot even see me yet...you speak the words of your heart but you are not trusting your heart enough to see me_.' Verius guided.

'How...can I see you?' Lloyd struggled to ask.

'_Remember back to what you endured during your test in the temple. Do not tell me you have let the actions of another cloud over what you promised to me._' Verius reminded.

The darkness started to wither away as Lloyd forced himself to remember what happened when Verius challenged him to prove the worth of his heart.

-Flashback-

Lloyd clashed against the ground as he gasped, gripping his swords tighter so they would not slip from his grasp before managing to stab his right sword into the ground to stop him from rolling. His head rolling up as he saw Verius peacefully sitting there...staring intently at the young swordsman.

The figure that opposed him stepped in front of Verius, blocking Lloyd's clear sight of the the summon spirit as Lloyd's brown eyes glanced up in an irritated manner. The sight he saw shocked him at the beginning of their match but now he was used to it...he saw himself; however, this Lloyd had one difference of wearing a Verius mask and constantly laughed at him in a high-pitched, echoed manner.

'_You still do not understand._' Verius whispered commented. '_This test does not end until you can defeat this opponent and get to me. Until then...know that you only see me cause I will it to be so. You cannot see me on your own._'

Lloyd grunted in shock as he saw Verius instantly disappear before his very eyes, leaving him alone with her Verius concurred counterpart.

The high-pitched laughter sang through the air as as Lloyd narrowed his eyes and the Lloyd in the Verius mask ran forward, stabbing wildly at the ground as Lloyd jumped back and then rolled himself along the ground to avoid being run through. Crashing against the wall, Lloyd got to a sitting position before glaring at the man in the mask, his next stab zeroed in on him before Lloyd pushed the sword to the side and then swiped out in counterattack with his other weapon; however, like the other times, his sword hit nothing but air as the man vanished before the hit landed. Responding with another mocking laughter.

"Every time I find an opening and strike; he just disappears before I can actually hit him. How does Verius expect me to win with-" Lloyd muttered to himself as first before he noticed the counterpart of him wearing the Verius fade back into view as the man tilted his head to the side in an observing way. "Wait...this isn't a fight...this is a test..." Lloyd felt his eyes narrow in thought and determination.

Laughter filled the darkness again as the man dashed forward, raising both swords into attack positions. Lloyd bit down on his lip as he watched the man, if this was a test...then what was he being tested on and why himself as his enemy. Verius was the summon spirit of the heart and was trying to teaching him something while testing how strong his heart was. It would be a gamble, but Lloyd had nothing more to lose as he breathed out slowly and watched as the distance closed between him and his masked copy.

The blackness sounded with the sound of Lloyd's swords clattering to the ground as he let a breath and stared directly at the charging masked assailant, giving a slight flinch when he watched the twin swords thrust toward his chest. Only to watch as the swords passed through and the masked man was gone.

'_Why did you not attack?_' Verius asked in a curious tone.

"Because...I am not the enemy here, so why would I be fighting myself?" Lloyd breathed out, a hint of relief at his risky gamble of allowing the man to attack him.

"Why indeed, Lloyd, why have you become your own enemy?" Verius whispered, materializing before Lloyd's eyes slowly, his rainbow tail swooshing back and fourth.

"Wh-what?" Lloyd blinked as he had to take a moment to consider that.

"You are still not ready to see the truth yet are you?" Verius titled his head slightly.

"Are you...letting me see you?" Lloyd asked, remembering his test.

"Yes." Verius nodded once. "You're heart is still too blind to see me."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd sputtered as he took an advancing step towards the summon spirit.

"When you fought Mithos, the Desians and all the unspeakable injustice that happened around you...you fought with all your heart. Now, when Sheena is at her most vulnerable, you have lost your heart, your will and your fight...why?" Verius asked, keeping his tone calm.

"Verius I haven't-" Lloyd started to say but then felt the gaze of the spirit through his seemingly closed eyes, letting out sigh Lloyd glanced to the side. "It is that obvious?" Lloyd confessed.

"Sheena is enduring her own test of the heart now that she has been so deeply wounded by your shared foe, she will need the strength of someone's heart other then her own since she cannot depend on her own right now and you are not being there. You are the only one she can turn to Lloyd and you have blinded yourself, it will not help anyone." Verius seemed to turn his head to look to the side in a casual manner.

"I must be pretty bad then, huh?" Lloyd smiled weakly, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "I was given a similar reminder from the Professor and now a summon spirit of the heart."

"So now do you understand?" Verius asked in a tone as if he already knew the answer to come, turning his head to meet with Lloyd.

"I...think so." Lloyd nodded once.

"If you understand, then make your promise and prove to me you do." Verius challenged.

Lloyd stared right into Verius's eyes as he breathed out once softly, nodding his head before finding the resolution deep within himself.

-Flash back end-

'_Do you remember?_' Verius whispered to Lloyd through the darkness of his subconscious.

'_I...I..do..._' Lloyd responded.

_'Then do not forget, Lloyd._' Verius replied. '_Remember it and use it_.' Lloyd could not tell where he was looking except the only thing that would ever greet him was darkness. '_USE IT!_' Verius demanded.

The moment that Verius rose his voice, Lloyd felt his heart beat thunder with such a force that he could swear that the sound was powerful enough to shake his subconscious within the darkness; as if setting off a chain reaction, Lloyd watched while the darkness started to crack like a porcelain vase revealing a light from behind the shroud.

'I promised...' Lloyd uttered while the darkness continued to crack. 'I promised...I promised!'

In that single moment, the darkness shattered instantly and the cloud that had filled his subconscious was quickly replaced with a dull pain and his ears became acutely aware while the silence was broken by his deep breath that resembled the gust from a whirlwind. Each time his heart beat in his chest the dull pain throbbed through his body.

Lloyd's eyes opened and he saw the night skies, filled with the beautiful stars. The sight was a bliss for him to know that he had not yet died, he still had some fight left in him.

Gold filled Lloyd's blurred vision, the gold of the purest of blonde strands of hair, long and lengthy; rich, beautiful blue eyes looked down at him with a hint of worry before being filled with what he could tell were joy, tear-lined eyes of relief and for that instant, Lloyd knew who it was.

"Col...ette..." Lloyd uttered in a weak, pained voice.

Her voice was so fuzzy, he could not understand what she was saying. Her head had turned to the side as if she was speaking to someone now.

"Col..." Lloyd whispered while trying to understand her.

As much as Lloyd fought, the darkness started to creep over his vision once more but this time it did not strike fear into Lloyd...he knew he had the fight to return.


	27. A mind and heart in conflict

Chapter 27

Sheena's heart beat rapidly in her chest as she held Lloyd's bleeding form close to her body, she could not help but whisper into his ear for him to come back to her, for him not to give up and not to die on her. His blood was quick to soak her purple tunic and warm her lap, that only worried Sheena even more knowing just how much was spilling out of his vessel.

"Lloyd...come back...come back to me." Sheena whimpered as the vines of sorrow wrapped around her heart and soul, dream sent fearful trembles through her nerves. All she could feel were his swallow, struggled breathes against the top of her chest as she held him to her.

The few minutes seemed to last for eternity as she slowly eased her hold on his body and looked down at her dieing swordsman. Her tearful eyes gazed upon his hands, even while unconscious, he still gripped the hilts of his swords firmly and the sight of them both being shattered sent a bewildered jolt through her nervous system. The jacket was torn completely from his body from the force of the blast, the sheaths of his swords cracked in vitals areas of it's structure, boots looked like the surface melted even though his boots and pants would have been the least surface area hit. The muscle shirt he normally wore underneath his red jacket had been torn away as well, nothing covering his torso but blood soaked dirt and debris.

Sheena touched her fingers across the numerous gashes that marked throughout his body, if not caused by the crashing mana pillar that she saw shoot into the sky and crash down on top of him or else be from the swirling tornado of mana she saw right before the finalized attack. Two wounds oozed blood more then any of his cuts, Sheena suffered a conflict when she realized the dirt was actually stunting the bleeding gashes throughout his body, yet the dirt inside the wound would only prove to be problematic; however for now she ignored that to look upon the two six-inch wide, circular holes below his collarbones; Sheena was an assassin and she knew that if those broke the vital arteries, then Lloyd would be good as dead.

A sickening dread washed over her body that threatened to make her vomit, not from the sight of his wounds or the gore of which her eyes were forced to look down on but from the fact that it was Lloyd that was facing death's door. Resting Lloyd on her lap, Sheena reached down to untie the red rope that bound her pink bow to her waist, loosening it enough so she could pull her pink back to her side, her fingers fumbling to undo the lengthy pink fabric.

She knew that the only thing that she had that could be wrapped around both his wounds, front and back, would be her pink bow and even though some parts of the bow was already stained with his fresh blood, it would have to do as a makeshift bandage. Sheena very carefully started to wrap the pink bow over his wound, crossing it over his chest and then looping it under his arm to cross it back to the other side, then crossing it over his back to cover the exit wounds. Training for self-preservation and basic medical aid from Mizuho ninjitsu training was more important to her then ever and she wished that she had spent more time analyzing the plants and herbs when she had her stay in Luin.

"Please...let this be enough for now." Sheena whispered to herself, tears clouding her sight as she looked down at the man that was now forced to battle for his life.

Luin was destroyed and Sheena knew that there was not going to be anyone around, she would need to get to the nearest town or village and get him proper treatment, she knew that the best chance would be Iselia and get him to Raine, even if she did not have her Exsphere anymore, she still could focus her healing powers; focusing them only took more effort and energy on her and if Raine really needed it, than Sheena would be more then happy to led Raine her own Exsphere.

Sheena fought hard as her mind told her the odds of Lloyd being able to survive the trip and reminded Sheena that she would only be able to carry Lloyd so far, her body was pretty battered from sharing the pain with Lloyd to take some of the power of the attack off him and the part she absorbed felt like it had turned many of her bones to dust. Her heart screamed at her to never mind the logic of her mind and just push as far as she could; that she would regret not trying and end up hating her own existence if she gave up now and Sheena had to confess that her heart knew exactly how to argue.

Carefully, Sheena positioned Lloyd on her back and fought through the screaming muscles in her legs, threatening her that she could cause permanent damage to her body if she continued. Sheena let out a breathless gasp of pain when she managed to get to a standing position, pulling on Lloyd's legs to keep them on both sides of her waist while glancing over her shoulder to look at his unconscious head resting on her shoulder.

"I'm not going to give on you, Lloyd...please don't give up on me." she whispered softly before looking ahead of herself and gathering what remaining determination and courage she could muster and transform it into the strength to push forward.

Sheena's steps were slow at first, like she was trying to learn how to walk, leaving the forest line and walking along the edge of the crater left by the Extinction technique used by Valemeros. All her knees wanted to do was buckle, it was not enough that her body was shattered by sharing the pain but she also forced herself to dash at her blinding speed to save him, she had already spent her reserves and now she was forced to search for every last drop of strength she had.

The breeze provided a minor relief as Sheena dashed through the grassy plains, she was going to risk going back to Hima and let Lloyd recuperate there. A soft moan close to her ear got her attention as her heart skipped a beat. She was quick to look over her shoulder and notice Lloyd's brown eyes opening, she was so relieved that he was fighting for his life but the fact that he was awake right now worried Sheena more than anything; she did not want Lloyd to use up any strength that he needed to pull through his grave wounds.

"Lloyd...save your strength, don't move." Sheena managed to huff out.

Sheena also knew that she had no time to worry about Lloyd right now, it was a miracle that Sheena managed to start running and she needed to keep her concentration. She did not want to risk becoming aware of the condition she was in.

"She..." Lloyd was muttering, the strength it took to speak stung Sheena's heart with more dread and fear as she turned her head forward and focused her eyes on the mountains in the distance that concealed Hima.

"I said shut up!" Sheena surprised even herself when she screamed that.

The response of his shallow breath against her neck sent a tremble through her nerves as her eyes instantly glanced over to Lloyd again, his eyes were closing and although rest was what he needed, Sheena could not help but feel afraid that that would be the last time she would see his endearing brown eyes open again.

"Lloyd! Don't you dare die on me." Sheena yelled desperately to see if she could earn a stir from him, he was motionless but she had a feeling he was still alive and with her...that would be enough for her right now.

Sheena squeezed Lloyd's legs as she huffed out breathlessly once more and dashed as fast and as far as her legs could take her, little did she know that it would not be much further as she felt her knees give almost instantly, it was like somehow had just suddenly cut the tendons of her legs as all her weight actually crashed down to the grassy meadow and she could do nothing but helplessly hit the ground hard as Lloyd's body flung off her back and she shut her eyes tight in dread as she heard his weight thump against the dirt.

Tears started to well up in her eyes, hopelessness was washing over her as she gripped a handful of green grass and pressed her forehead against the ground in an attempt to push herself back to her at least a sitting position; her body was spent and she knew that she could not muster anything more.

"That did not look like it was the most pleasant moment in your life." sounded the voice of a recognizable feline guardian.

"C...Cat?" Sheena whispered softly as she dug her fingers into the dirt as she managed to push herself up enough to look up, seeing the black feline sitting there with a curious tilt to her head.

"I know you do not want to hear it but it seems you have reached your limit." Cat spoke out in a casual tone as she set her head straight.

"Not...now, Cat..." Sheena managed to voice out almost breathlessly as she felt her muscles cramp and lock up.

"I might not say it, won't make it any less true though." Cat replied.

"I can't...stop now..." Sheena responded while trying to fight back her tears, lifting her head enough to look to Lloyd who was laying on the grassy surface of the ground. "Not...now." she whispered hopelessly.

Cat's ears perked up as her lovely green eyes shifted casually to the side to see where Sheena was looking and turned her head to look at the fallen young warrior. Standing on all four paws now, the feline trotted over and then sat down facing Lloyd as if assessing the condition he was in and then turning her head to look over to Sheena. " Your lover doesn't have much longer to live."

Those confessed words stabbed Sheena's heart when she heard them as she lowered her head slightly, the tears were now impossible to fight back. "I...I know...that is why...I cannot let myself...give up." Sheena whispered with a tone becoming overcome in sorrow.

"I don't think you have much of a say." Cat sighed out.

"You...you don't understand at all...do you?" Sheena groaned while she tried to force herself to at least get into a kneeling position, any other position would be good then helplessly laying face down on the ground.

"Hm?" Cat replied with a tone of innocence. "What don't I get?"

Sheena did not have the strength to argue with Cat right now on what was going through her heart and what it meant to give everything you had for the man that you care for. She managed to lift her head again, looking passed Cat to look at the motionless Lloyd while giving out a nervous sigh as she pressed her hands to the ground and gave every bit of effort she could, despite how badly her body wanted to shut down.

"Why? Why do you keep trying, Sheena?" Cat asked, she was not trying to mock or anything, she was asking in complete innocence as the feline watched Sheena battle.

"Lloyd is...fighting for his life, Cat." Sheena gritted her teeth through the strain and agonizing pain that her body was being crippled by.

"I can see that." Cat responded while casting her radiate green eyes towards the wounded man.

"...you do not understand how I cannot give up on him...I just can't." Sheena choked, she felt so helpless, her heart wanted everything to get up and bring him to where he can gain medical attention but that was not powerful enough to overcome the limits that her body had. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she realized that she may have just given a delay to his demise and he was probably suffering because of her; sharing his pain spared him but it also made it so Sheena was crippled from taking some of the burden off of Lloyd and now she could not be there for him even though he was there for her for everything, he comforted her when she lost Corrine, eased her mind when she had to fight in the one on one duel against her best friend, complimented her innocently on how lovely her dress was at the ball-which ended up easing her discomfort-sharing the long talk in Flainor, she tried to be there for him when he was thinking about his fight with Kratos but once again it turned around and she felt like she was comforted more by it then she provided for him, he gave her strength to overcome her fear of Volt and failure, he even saved her heart when she was wounded by Valemeros, revealed the location of the Exspheres just to get her back and now she could not even return one of those favors and save him when he needed her the most. Lloyd was her most trusted, most endearing friend through their travels...and she was bewildered as she felt him spread his warmth through her body and that warmth set off a chain reaction and Sheena was allowed to feel something she did not know she would ever feel...she felt her heart open and blossom into an honest love for the man. First she loved his ideals, courage, emotions, and determination and now...she just plain loved him.

Dragging her nails across the dirt, Sheena felt the tears fall down her cheeks as her chest tightened and locked in heartbreak at the thought of him dieing in this field.

"L...Lloyd." Sheena whimpered painfully.

A light tug on the fabric of her shoulder made her watered brown eyes open slightly while lifting her head to cast her sights upon the source. What gave her the slight shock was that it was Cat, she had taken Sheena's cloth in between her feline fangs and was pulling at her as if urging Sheena to get back up.

"C-Cat?" Sheena blinked, causing a few more tears to fall.

"You going to get up by yourself or are you going to force my small body to pull you up?" Cat stated in a firm tone as she continued to tug on Sheena's tunic.

"Wh...why are you?" Sheena started, stunned slightly in a daze.

"I have my reasons, now get up." Cat demanded.

Sheena did not know what was happening at that moment but it was like the feline was imparting her own energy into Sheena somehow, her heart jumped for a moment and suddenly she did not feel like she was in as much pain anymore.

'_What...is this renewed strength?_' Sheena thought at first, her eyes locking on Cat as the feline pulled on Sheena's body, even though it was in vain. '_Get up, Sheena._' she told herself as her breath held in her chest for a moment. '_Get up!_'

With some form of renewed vigor, Sheena pushed herself up slowly, her arms continued to tremble under the strain of her weight but she somehow managed to at least get to a kneeling position as she breathed out slowly.

"You can do better than this, Sheena...up!" Cat inspired as she turned around and walked towards the critically wounded Lloyd.

Sheena huffed out once, her legs did not hurt as much as they did just a few seconds ago and her muscles felt like they had a little more left in them...hidden resources. She was about to stand to her feet before she saw something in the sky that caught her attention for a moment.

'A...rheaird?" Sheena blinked in surprise.

Sheena thought to try and get the rheaird's attention but she was surprised to see that she did not have to, the rheaird almost instantly changed course and was making it's way towards her location. She watched as the rheaird quickly closed the distance and came to a land as her eyes widened to see who it was, finding herself breathless once more as she stayed in her position of sitting on her legs.

The dark cape covered the man's body as he gazed down at her in a somewhat casual manner, his eyes were hard to read and his expressionless face made it all the harder to know what his purpose was for being her. His sky blue cascaded down his back as arms slowly peaked from the front split of the cape to show his arms crossing over his chest as he gave a slight tilt to his head.

"I had hoped this would not happen." the man spoke with a more monotone voice to match.

"Y...Yuan?" Sheena stated in shocked.

The man gave a curt nod before walking over to Lloyd and then kneeling down, seeming to instantly forget about Sheena as he placed a hand on the man's neck, checking for a pulse before giving a slight huff of breath, it seemed to be of relief.

"He's alive...but barely." Yuan commented casually before looking over to Sheena.

"Who's the handsome one?" Cat purred slightly looking up to Yuan since she was by Lloyd's body already, not that Yuan could see or hear her.

"Take the rheaird, his best chance of survival is with half-elf, the professor." Yuan spoke out in a calm, collected tone as his left arm raised to gesture towards his rheaird.

"Yuan...why are you here?" Sheena blinked.

"Now is not the time for asking questions, Sheena. A war is going to be upon us and Lloyd is probably the only one who has a chance of stopping it. Take him to Iselia."

Sheena could only blink once in dumbfounded shock at such a twist in her luck that she could only stare at the man for those few vital moments as she watched his eyes narrow slightly in irritation at her lack of action.

"Sheena!" Cat called out, snapping the purple ninja from her trace. "Stare later, save your lover now."

Sheena gasped out once as she snapped out of her trace and found herself with the strength to get to her feet once again as she staggered her first two steps before regaining herself and walking over to Lloyd, her eyes not leaving Yuan for a moment as she picked Lloyd up and off the ground.

Yuan did not say a word as he casually watched her, that was one of the things that was creeping Sheena out about the man. He also mentioned something about a war, he seemed like he knew something that she and Lloyd did not.

Carrying Lloyd, Sheena managed to seat him carefully on the front of the rheaird while grabbing the handles of the machine, casting one last glance to Yuan, Sheena finally set her sights towards the skies as she let the machine blast off. Sheena had to ignore her instinct to land in Hima and set her sights to where Yuan told her to go and she knew deep down that Lloyd would be in the best care with Raine.

"Be sure to not fly too high, the air gets too thin and it may only worsen Lloyd's condition." Yuan voiced from almost out of nowhere, making the ninja jump as she felt her heartbeat race for a moment before realizing that Yuan was using the communication console of the rheaird to speak with her, looking down at the device she let out a soft breath.

"Yuan, what is this war you are speaking of?" Sheena asked, ignoring his advice that he gave her about height.

"Now is not the time." Yuan replied.

"What the? Then when will it be the right time?" Sheena growled slightly, she was grateful for his help but she did not like how cryptic the man could be at times and throughout their journeys she always knew that he had a plan in his head all the time and was not above using people without their knowledge of knowing they are playing a part in his plot.

"I'll meet you back in Iselia, be sure that Lloyd survives." Yuan responded.

'_Like I need you to tell me that.'_ Sheena grumbled lightly in her head.

The stirring form of Lloyd was what gained Sheena's attention as her heart beat once painfully as she looked down to the man, he was still holding onto his life and that put some relief into the female ninja, it would only be a matter of time before they would be at Iselia, she would only need him to hold on just a moment longer. For now, Sheena needed to calm Lloyd and assure him that she was still with him and that she would not give up on him...ever.

Sheena leaned forward and placed her lips right beside Lloyd's ear and gave a soft, gentle whisper to his ear, she wanted to ease him. "Lloyd stay still...please do not move."

A soft moan was her response as she released once hand from the handle bar and then placed her hand tenderly on his head, her eyes half closing as she let the worry wash over her for that moment, she was so relieved that she was now allowed the luxury to worry for the young man.

"Be careful, he may go into shock."

Unfortunately for Sheena, that fear became a reality as she looked down at Lloyd and watched as he suddenly lost the ability to breath, she could see his chest lock up and his mouth opened but no air was coming out and his chest showed that he was not taking any air in. Sheena felt her fear break a little with the fear of thinking that Lloyd was nearing the end of his struggle, panic quickly washed over her body.

"Lloyd no!" Sheena cried in worry as she let go of the handles of the rheaird to hold Lloyd close to her body, looking down at him as he fought for even a sliver of air.

She watched as he suddenly coughed out thick blood. "Lloyd! Lloyd!" Sheena cried out, she tilted his head to the side and even tried to adjust his body as best as she could so he was more on his side, allowing the man to cough out the blood that had been blocking his ability to breath properly and was probably filling his lungs. Sheena's body trembled in an overpowering fear as she held onto Lloyd and kept him close to her; also making sure to hold him very carefully.

"You need to keep him breathing, Sheena." Yuan proclaimed over the communication device on the rheaird. "Focus on Lloyd, I will program the rheaird to pilot itself to the location if Iselia."

Sheena only listened to half of what Yuan had said to her as she tried her best to shift Lloyd to his side, a task that proved to be very challenging due to trying to balance him on the seat of the rheaird. She did not care that he was spitting up blood in her lap, the thought did not even occur to her as she focused on the struggling brown haired boy.

"Lloyd...it's okay...shh..." Sheena tried to reassure through her own desperation. She did not know what else to say but she was told once in the village that even if the person seemed unconscious they would be able to hear your voice sometimes and be reassured by the sound of it; that is what she was hoping for right now.

The trip tortured Sheena as every second of flight went by, the silence given by Yuan did not help her situation either, even if she would not listen to his words right now as she focused on Lloyd, the sound of another voice would comfort her on a subconscious level.

Relief washed over Sheena when she noticed that Lloyd was managing to breath again, it was swallow but she would have to settle for that for now; at least his breathing was there and it showed that he was still fighting for his right to live. Sheena leaned forward so she could whisper into his mind and pray that it soothed him while he was unconscious.

"I'm here, Lloyd...stay with me." Sheena whispered tenderly while running her slender fingers through his damp hair, soaked with cold sweat. '_He has lost so much blood._' Sheena thought to herself when she noticed her blood soaked tunic and she knew that her back was probably soaked as well from their run across the plains. The pink bow had already become soaked to the point of almost turning black in the spots where he was wounded, from what she did not know; all she did know was that those wounds would claim his life if he did not get them probably sealed and she had hoped Raine had not lost her healing touch over the time of their separation.

Finally landing near Iselia, Sheena wasted no time picking Lloyd up with the remaining strength she had. The fact that she was so close to the one who was his best hope gave Sheena a boost of energy and even though her muscles screamed at her in protest she pushed herself onwards.

Sheena walked quickly towards the entrance, only to see the two gatekeepers of Iselia take notice of her and she did not like the expressions that were on their faces as they first registered shock, a slight second of worry and then finally followed by a stern, almost distasteful look of disdain as they both raised their hands.

"Hold it right there, Lloyd Irving is banished from this village."

"Get out of my way." Sheena snapped in a surprising fury as she boldly walked right passed the two so-called village guards.

"H-hey...you can't enter the village!" the other cried.

"Dammit...get the major..." his companion ordered.

"B-but..."

"Get him...I will follow them."

"Right."

Sheena felt a twitch of anger overcome her crippling fear of losing Lloyd as she glanced over her shoulder to spot the guard now following closely behind her; he struggled to keep up with her brisk walking pace.

"Raine? RAINE!" Sheena screamed when she neared the house that Raine and Genis took residence in. '_Please...please be in the village._' Sheena pleaded in her mind.

"What is all the-" Raine hissed while opening her door, only to have her expression instantly change when she saw a blood soaked Sheena and a torn, tattered and deathly Lloyd. "Oh my goodness." Raine whispered as her already creamy face became sickly pale and she leaned against the door frame to make room for Sheena. "Inside, quick."

"Professor Raine...Lloyd Irving is banned, he cannot stay here." the guard firmly reminded.

Sheena was surprised when Raine's head snapped from looking at Lloyd to the deathly glare directed at the guard that was powerful enough to even make Sheena hesitate a step before she breathed out once and walked passed Raine, feeling a sense of security under her watch. Sheena then placed Lloyd on the bed, the very same bed that he had placed her on not so long ago before kneeling beside the bed, hearing the footsteps of Raine come up from behind her to stand by the bed.

"These are sever wounds...I...I don't know if I can-" Raine confessed, it took a lot to shake up her nerves and seeing Lloyd in this condition was enough to make the healer question her abilities as a quick reminder of how she failed to save one man from the grasp of death already, she would never forgive herself if that happened again.

"Please Raine...you have to..." Sheena pleaded as she reached up to grab the professor's hand, her watery eyes now looking up to the white-haired young elven woman. "Please?" Sheena repeated in a whisper, she was too shattered both mentally and physically to maintain any grip on her emotions and the fact that she could lose Lloyd was just too much for her to bare. Sheena slide her trembling fingers into the palm of Raine's hand, slipping Sheena's own exsphere into her hand as Rain felt it and looked at her palm to gaze upon the crystallized gem.

Raine gave a light solemn nob as she breathed out softly while bringing her gray eyes to meet with Lloyd; she sat on the edge of the bed while putting the exsphere into her hand, she had never removed the keycrest from her hand so it was a simple task to slip the gem into place. The exsphere gave a light flicker while Raine let out a subtle gasp, feeling the surge of power return while her eyes were forced closed for that one moment, it had been two years since she last felt this tingling sensation and she could not help but welcome it back...the ability to do more then just sit on the sidelines.

Sheena had to put her faith into Raine; the elven healer would be Lloyd's best chance at survival and she knew that her magic would be better then any medical attention that was available even in Meltokio.

"Hang in there Lloyd..." Sheena whispered softly as she reached out to grab his hand lightly while watching Raine place her hands lightly on Lloyd's chest.

The pink bow that had served as a bandage was removed carefully from his body, Sheena could only watch helplessly as Raine assessed the damage that he had gone through and she knew that Raine was doing calculations in her mind on Lloyd's chances of survival through the mortal wounds across his body, the state of his breathing, body temperature and even peeling his eyes open to gaze into them. Sheena tried her best to control her trembling nerves before she heard Raine speak.

"Sheena...do not take this the wrong way; I am going to need you to leave." Raine muttered through a monotone voice.

"No...I'm not leaving him." Sheena voiced out in a surprised yet tearful voice.

"I need to concentrate, leave...now." Raine scolded lightly, trying to understand what position Sheena was in but also knowing that every second could be vital.

Sheena could only look up to Raine helplessly before noting the stern yet concerned look in the professor's pale eyes and Sheena was reminded that Raine was not trying to torture Sheena and that she would not waste her time saying anything without just cause to say it. Sheena dropped her eyes to the floor for a moment as she let her tears fall down her cheeks for a moment before looking back over to Lloyd and grabbing his one hand with both of hers. Sheena leaned over the bed, close to his ear as she pressed the back of his hand against her cheek while whispering softly in his ear; a whisper loud enough for only Lloyd to hear.

"I'm here Lloyd...I'll always be here...for you...and with you." Sheena swallowed while a hard, painful lump formulated in her throat and she had hoped this would not be the last moment she would ever see him alive, that thought tore her heart apart.

Forcing herself to her feet, Sheena fought through the pain of her shattered body and slowly walked towards the door; she gave one last look at Lloyd before forcing herself to leave the house and let Raine focus on bringing Lloyd back from his fight with death. She could only hope that she was fast enough to get Lloyd to the young professor in time to get his wounds healed.

"By the Goddess, what is going on here?" Sheena heard the mayor of the village exclaim, gaining the ninja's attention as she briefly wiped her eyes before glancing over to the bewildered mayor; his eyes were locked onto the blood soaked tunic that Sheena still wore. "You...you're Sheena Fujibayashi, successor to Mizuho." the major confronted as he pointed in her direction.

The first thing that she had to do was regain her own composure, as much as her heart ached and her mind raced and her muscles became numb; she needed to keep a strong front when dealing with a man who would be intent on getting Lloyd out of the village and he probably would show no favor to her either, it was well known that Sheena had been traveling with Lloyd.

Mizuho had left the reign of Meltokio as well as leaving Tethe'alla lands when the worlds became united, to some they were seen as traitors and to others they were seen as the civilization that did not assimilate correctly with the rest of Tethe'alla anyways and so their sudden departure was not really seen as being a missing factor.

The king however saw it differently, he had once used Mizuho as his own personal spy network at times and the assassins in the shadows so none of his own men would have to dirty their hands with such underhanded tactics and now that network was gone, Mizuho would still answer the King's call when he would need their services but they would make it abundantly clear that they did not follow the King's rule anymore and that they did it as a favor to the king and his kingdom as well as showing respect so that Mizuho could be left in peace and not hunted down for their departure.

Sheena narrowed her eyes slightly as she managed to find it in herself to become irritated as she folded her arms over her chest and leaned her weight on one foot, all she knew was that she could not lose to her emotions in front of the mayor, it would only make her seem weak and she knew he would not show her any mercy even if she did.

"Yes I am, Sheena...Sheena Fujibayashi, on behalf of Mizuho I shall be needing services from one of your residents." Sheena surprised herself when she managed to wall up all her hurt and pain when facing the mayor, it was like a new Sheena emerged to deal with this situation.

"I cannot allow that...you have brought in Lloyd Irving, a known criminal...a wanted criminal and him being here endangers my villagers. I need both you and Lloyd Irving to leave." the mayor stubbornly protested as he did not seem to retreat a step as he came closer while being accompanied by the two gate guards of Iselia, some nearby villagers had stopped their everyday life to passively eavesdrop on the situation unfolding.

"I cannot allow that." Sheena coldly responded, she needed to keep this act up...she could not let herself break now; she just had to remember that she was doing this all for Lloyd, that would give her strength.

"You don't have a say here, let's get that clear." the mayor gruffly stated.

Sheena felt a surprising amount of anger well up inside her as eyed the man dangerously, her hands balling up into fists for a moment.

"So you can take Lloyd Irving to your ninja hideout and take care of your business there, do not carelessly involve Iselia...or you will force me to contact the Tethe'alla military and turn him in." the mayor frowned in a disapproving manner.

"Listen you..." Sheena found herself growling in defense of Lloyd; she also reached out and grabbed the mayor by the front of his shirt while her brown eyes glared deep into his.

Shock was expressed across the face of the mayor as he felt his weight shift forward and could only stare back into Sheena's eyes.

'_This...isn't going to work, it will only make things worse._' Sheena thought to herself. All she knew was that she reacted before she could think and now the eyes of the villagers were intently on the situation on hand.

A bead of sweat slide down the side of her head as she gently bit her bottom lip and let her brown eyes search her surroundings as she noticed the faces of the villagers and only more of them were coming out from inside their houses. It was just then that another thought came to her mind and she figured a different want to approach the situation and maybe correct the boundaries she overstepped with the mayor. Sheena swallowed lightly before looking back to the mayor who had now replaced his surprise with a look of agitation.

"Listen...please." Sheena spoke softly while gently releasing her grip on his shirt.

"Sheena?" a startled tone spoke from the side, she knew who that voice belonged to as she glanced over her shoulder to see Genis. "What happened? Why are you covered in...blood?" Genis stated in a worried tone.

"It's Lloyd." Sheena almost whispered; the sensation of sorrow started to surface again.

"Lloyd? What happened? Is he alright?" Genis voiced in worry.

The fact that the mayor did not say anything could as a surprise as the two exchanged brief words to each other and ignored him.

"Your sister is tending to him now." Sheena managed to say, feeling her eyes start to sting for a moment as she fought back the urge to have her eyes well up with tears.

"And he cannot stay here...he is endangering this village." the mayor grumbled.

"You can't send Lloyd away! Look at all this blood!" Genis pleaded.

Sheena looked down at her purple tunic as if discovering the blood for the first time but really just letting realization hit her again; she closed her eyes for a moment and then placed her hand on the shoulder of the young half-elf; Sheena had an idea and she knew she was trying to convince the wrong person in their argument and winning this could very well mean the life or death of the beloved swordsman.

"Genis." Sheena whispered softly to gain his attention.

"Sheena...you can't let them do this." Genis exclaimed somewhat loudly.

Sheena let out a soft sigh and then turned her brown eyes to face the mayor as he kept his arms folded across his chest, he was staring at Sheena like she was some insect and she knew that was probably how he saw Lloyd right now and she was in the way of him getting rid of the wounded man.

"If you said Lloyd away now...he will die." Sheena uttered out softly.

"That is not my problem." the mayor sneered for a moment, putting on a cold front.

"It might not be your problem." Sheena fought back choking on the hard lump in her throat before she turned away and looked to one of the woman that just walked out of her home. "But what about your villagers?" Sheena started, locking her brown eyes onto the bewildered eyes of the house wife. "Could you send away a dieing man?" Sheena asked, the bewildered woman stood there silent for a moment before she looked away. "Two years ago you banished Lloyd from your village and later that year you welcomed him back...as a hero, a guardian of the chosen." Sheena let her eyes fall to another face in the crowd. "Now you have banished him again...on a crime that he was accused of." Sheena voiced softly; she was failing to keep her composure as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Exactly...he is a criminal; his presence endangers us all." the mayor added.

"You know though...Lloyd could not have done such a thing...ever." Sheena replied softly.

"That doesn't matter, what does is he is hunted. We cannot provide shelter for a criminal."

"So...send a man to die that you know did not commit the crime but doing it just because he is being accused?" Sheena asked; her question directed towards another villager then facing the mayor. "You...and you..." Sheena spoke while looking between some faces. "You all grew up watching Lloyd grow into the wonderful, moral, and courageous young man...you all watched him grow up. This is his home, you all played a hand in raising him and now he is dieing...you cannot close the door on him." Sheena pleaded, earning some pained looks from the villagers as she turned around to face the opposing faces of the crowd. "Lloyd never asked anything of you...he never asks anything of anybody and no one questions why he fights so hard...what he does what he does." Sheena breathed out softly once before she found her gaze falling onto the wide eyes of a little girl; she reminded Sheena of the little girl she fought for in Luin. "Lloyd has always fought for us all, silently...he has bleed for us all...cried for us all and won...for us all, our own lives, or children." Sheena gently placed her hand against her chest where her heart beat rapidly against her palm. "A man who fights for everyone would never slaughter a single soul...he would protect it with his very own." Sheena said, letting her admiration of the man show in the tone of her voice. "He needs me right now right...he needs you...he needs your mercy, are you saying you are going to deny this one silent plea from him? From me? Please...just enough so he can survive, then we both will leave and you won't see us again...I promise. All I ask is this one...selfless act of mercy." Sheena felt her muscles tense as anxiety washed over her heart; she had never spoke form her heart before and never in front of so many people that were intently focused on her, it felt like she had opened herself up and exposed her true self and now awaited to be judged on.

"Mayor...I...I won't be able to sleep at night wondering if Lloyd died because of us." one woman called out from the crowd.

"I'm with Maria." one of her friends added in.

"What? Oh come on...don't tell me your buying into her manipulation. This is what she wants." the mayor frowned.

"Call it whatever you want; I cannot have a clear conscience if we sent that boy out to die." one man responded, resting his shovel on his shoulder.

"Now now, hold on everyone." the mayor stuttered.

"The woman is right...Lloyd grew up with us...all of us." another woman muttered softly to the teenage boy beside her.

The crowd soon came to life with chatter that the mayor could not control, as much as he tried. Sheena let out a soft breath of relief as she reached up to brush the tear from her other eye and then looked over her shoulder to Raine's house, where Lloyd was recovering and she managed to gain a small hint of a smile. Sheena had done everything she could for Lloyd and now his life was in Raine's hands; she was confident that he was in the best hands and if anyone could grab him from the grasp of death it was Raine.

Sheena sat on the edge of the cliff as she hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on the top of her knees while looking down at the village engulfed by the night's darkness. Her eyes did not leave Raine's illuminated window, her eyes narrowing for a moment as she felt tears well up in her eyes. Memories of how they first met flushed through her mind; how much she tried to convince herself to kill Colette and when she first looked into Lloyd's eyes when he was determined to defend the blonde klutz. Those determined, brown eyes burned into her mind since that moment of their first meeting and they managed to haunt her dreams. No matter where she ended up going for a moment by herself, Lloyd had always managed to suddenly appear beside her. The church, the fountain in Luin and even when she thought she was going to die defending Luin; Lloyd managed to come to her.

All she could remember was how much she tried to fight her growing emotions concerning the young man and how her surprise at his characteristics turned into an interest and that soon developed into an embarrassing crush that made her heart flutter whenever he smiled at her, the few times he got in close to speak to her, not meaning for his breath to touch against her ear or neck. She had lost count of how many times he made her blush and the fact he never meant too only made those moments mean even more to the purple ninja and now that wonderful man was fighting death.

Sheena closed her eyes as she let out a distressed sigh, Lloyd was the last face she let cross her mind before she became lost in some of her memories of how things were back then, when she was trying to fight her growing affections for the young swordsman.

-Flashback to outside Mizuho-

Sheena laced her fingers behind her head as she looked up towards the rich blue skies; she could not believe that she was going to lead them to Mizuho. She was going to get in hell for what she was going to do; however, giving a side glance to the cheerful Lloyd managed to cheer her up and reassure her that she was doing the right thing and how he cheerfully spoke of going to a hidden village. Sheena should be offended in some area of her mind for having the man talk about it in such a childish manner. She overheard Lloyd and Colette talk to Zelos about what Mizuho was like and with a roll of her eyes she looked back to the skies.

'_Like that idiot chosen knows anything about the village; Lloyd and Colette would be better off asking me._' Sheena gave herself a small smile.

"Are you sure this is going to be alright?" Raine asked casually.

Sheena blinked her eyes opened and tilted her head every so slightly to look over at their trusted healer of the group. Raine and Sheena had been at odd ends ever since she joined their merry group and Sheena could not blame her for that but Sheena did wish that the white-haired woman would give her a second chance with a new start. Sadly, Raine was not that easy and Sheena had to build a trust with the woman as opposed to starting fresh.

"It's the only way, isn't it?" Sheena shrugged. "I mean, it is not like we have any other choice." Sheena closed her eyes again.

"You could have choose not to." Raine voiced. "Don't try and act like you were pinned in a corner."

"I...ah..." Sheena stuttered for a moment, earning a meaningful glance from the professor.

"This isn't about him is it?" Raine asked while gesturing with her staff.

Sheena followed where she was pointing and saw Lloyd, laughing with Colette and Zelos as they cheerfully followed behind them, Colette was still carrying the dead weight of Regal with one arm. Sheena gave a light blush when she looked at Lloyd and watched as his eyes closed while he gave a wide, happy grin; his grin made Sheena swallow hard as a light blush crossed her face as she looked back towards the skies again, tightening her fingers together behind her head as her eyes closed, furrowing her eyebrows defiantly.

"I am not doing this for that idiot chosen." Sheena huffed hoping that Raine was gesturing towards the red-haired flirt and knew it would be safe she not assume Raine meant Lloyd.

"That is not who I am worried about." Raine replied in a firm tone.

Air was trapped in her lungs as she forgot how to breath for a moment; any control over her composure she had was certainly compromised now.

"What do you think can happen between you two?" Raine asked in a monotone manner, a tone that only Raine was capable of capturing perfectly.

Blood flushed to the purple ninja's cheeks and she could feel her body betray her composure as her cheeks continued to generate a mild heat.

"Don't be absurd...there is nothing going on...and nothing will." Sheena snapped defensively as she turned her head away from Raine.

"Keep telling yourself that, it might be better that you believe that...you do not know who you could hurt if you don't keep yourself grounded." Sheena heard Raine speak before the footsteps of the professor seemed to retreat behind her, giving Sheena her distance again.

'_What's her problem?_' Sheena thought to her self as her eyes opened and she looked behind her at the wise young woman; Raine had already opened a book and was reading while she walked, following perfectly as if completely aware of her surroundings while becoming lost in a book. '_I know I know...I know nothing can happen between us._' Sheena thought somewhat bitterly as her brown eyes moved from Raine to look over to where Lloyd was, he was still giving his signature carefree smile. '_I don't need Raine to remind me that nothing can happen between Lloyd and me. I mean look at him sharing his happy moments with...with...Colette._' Sheena sighed out without even realizing it as she watched him laugh with Colette and Zelos. '_It is silly to think that Lloyd thinks about me at all...I mean look at him, it doesn't even occur to him to...to...talk to me. He probably only talks to me when he feels he has to...when he needs me._' Sheena thought bitterly while watching him absently; she did not even notice Lloyd had stopped laughing and looked over in her direction. '_Besides...I don't need him, I don't need Zelos and I don't need companions...I...I've been doing just fine alone._' Sheena thought, going into a self-defensive mode. '_I have been doing just fine...just me and Corrine...that's all I will ever need._' Sheena reassured herself. Sheena's mind finally snapped too only to see that Lloyd was no longer with Colette and Zelos, he had walked off sometime ago while Sheena was lost in thought. '_Wha-where did he go?_' Sheena thought idly before closing her eyes and furrowing her eyebrows once more. '_What do I care?_' her turned her head towards the skies once more.

"So than..." Lloyd voiced cheerfully.

That voice, so close to her made her heart jump violently in her chest as she jumped slightly and her eyes burst open as she looked to her other side to see Lloyd walking beside her. He was mimicking the way she was walking, his fingers laced together behind his head as he looked up towards the skies as well, but unlike Sheena, his eyes were open as he watched the passing clouds.

"Don't...don't do that, you idiot!" Sheena huffed out while giving Lloyd a small glare.

"Heh heh heh, I'm sorry...didn't mean to startle you." Lloyd waved off carelessly. "I didn't think I would ever be able to sneak up on you...you're always so aware and alert." Lloyd confessed.

Sheena felt a slight blush creep up on her face for a moment before she shook off the girlish effects and closed her eyes again, keeping her eyebrows furrowed.

"Y...You didn't startle me or anything...just...you know." Sheena defended.

"Oh?...I get it...I think." Lloyd blinked in reply.

"Right...exactly." Sheena nodded.

She was not completely sure what she just agreed to; however this was how the conversations went sometimes with Lloyd and she found herself getting used to it with a surprising ease and even use it to her own advantage.

"Sheena?" Lloyd wondered.

"What is it, Lloyd?" Sheena asked as calmly as she could.

"What's your fighting style called?" Lloyd wondered.

'_What the-where did that come from?_' Sheena thought, a certain pride however filled her body as she gave a cheerful smile and gave the curious young man the answer to his question. "Oh, I'm a guardian user; I fight with special cards infused with powers." Sheena stated with a cheerful pride in expressing what she spent years mastering.

"Guardian user, huh? When I first met you; I was surprised you could fight with a piece of paper." Lloyd confessed.

Sheena opened her eyes as she blinked at Lloyd and his response. "When dwarves create accessories they carve charms into them, right? It's similar to that." Sheena explained using a comparison she knew that Lloyd would understand instantly.

"Oh I see!" Lloyd exclaimed in his signature cheer as Sheena's eyes opened and she gave a subtle tilt to her head while giving the young man a small smile. "So if I buy some paper and draw some charms onto them I-" Lloyd started.

"It won't work." Sheena stated firmly with her eyes closing in a slight irritation as her eyebrows furrowed once more, the idea that someone could just pick up a paper and do what she can do hit a slight sensitive nerve. "It's a secret art." Sheena added in.

"Darn." Lloyd sighed out as he frowned in a flustered manner.

'Too adorable.' Sheena thought as she peeked at the man. That expression pushed aside her irritation almost instantly knowing that Lloyd could never mean to intentionally disrespect her fighting style as she gave him a cheerful smile and she spoke before she could even think about it. "If you really want to learn it...you could become one of us." Sheena surprisingly offered.

The moment she made that offer, Sheena felt her heart beat once painfully and it made her aware of what she just said as she blinked her eyes open once and felt herself become flustered as she looked over to Lloyd's reaction to her invitation.

"How do I do that?" Lloyd asked in innocent curiosity.

'_Oh damn._' Sheena thought to herself as her blush returned; she raised a hand to touch against her cheek by instinct as if it would control how much blush would surface on her pale skin. "Um...like' Sheena started. '_Don't say it! Don't!_' Sheena's mind screamed. "...marrying..."

"Okay!" Lloyd replied with a wide, cheerful grin on his face.

'_Wh...what?_' Sheena stared at him for a second that stretched over eternity. "...What!" Sheena managed to exclaim in shock at what Lloyd was willing to do.

"I just need to marry, right?" Lloyd asked happily.

"Um...I..." Sheena stuttered while she felt the blood flush to her face as she stared at Lloyd and thought about the concept of having Lloyd as her husband; she did not ever consider having herself vowed to him and what surprised her more was that her instinct was not to punch him or push him away. She could just stare at him as she thought of what kind of husband he would be like to her, how the affectionate part of Lloyd was...if he would hold her on the cold nights, whisper to her when she cried and if he would chase away her lonely nights. The thing that surprised her the most was that she wanted to know what it would be like to be his wife...his woman...his love...his reason to live. "...Um...no...I mean...if...you want to...then..." Sheena struggled to find the words as she locked her eyes on Lloyd and his smiling face.

"I just need to marry someone in your village, right?" Lloyd confirmed.

'Wha...what?' Sheena's eyes went huge for a moment as she felt a shocked tingle run through her body and the blush almost instantly faded from her face and her hand slowly lowered from her face. 'What a fool I am.' Sheena glanced to the side as she gave an exasperated sigh. "You're so insensitive." Sheena muttered.

She could not help but find herself drawn to Lloyd even more though; he had opened up a very dangerous door in her mind and she could not help but wonder what kind of husband Lloyd would make and even more dangerously so, if she would make a pleasing wife to him.

-Flashback ends-

Sheena snapped out of her flashback as she blinked her eyes open, bewildered and while cold from the night chill that gave her a small shiver. Her brown eyes looked back to the village as she looked at the lite room in Raine's house where Lloyd was.

"Lloyd." Sheena whispered as she stood up to her feet and jumping off the cliff side and making her way back to Raine's house, her body screamed at her still and the small rest she gave it did not do her any favors at all. Her muscles felt like a tight knot that actually felt like the strings would snap if she pushed it any more then she should; she was thankful that Raine's house was relatively close to where she huddled herself up.

Approaching the front door, Sheena slowly turned the knob and pushed it open as silently as possible, the first sight she saw was Raine sitting at her desk, passed out from fatigue if Sheena had to guess as Sheena entered the room. Nothing would prepare Sheena for what she saw however as her eyes went wide while the blonde sat up from the edge of the bed, her blue eyes instantly locking onto Sheena's brown orbs.

"...Colette?" Sheena whispered softly.

Colette gave a weak smile before her saddened blue eyes looked over to Lloyd for a moment. Sheena saw as Colette reached up to wipe away the tears from her face before looking towards Sheena and forcing a smile on her face with a small wave.

"Sheena...I'm so happy to see you." Colette whispered back with a small wave.

'_Colette is trying to be strong._' Sheena sighed out softly.

"Oh dear, you are covered in...blood." Colette went wide-eyed for a moment, her eyes looked over Sheena's soaked clothes and then looked back to Lloyd. "L...Lloyd's blood?" Colette asked nervously even though Sheena knew that the blonde already knew the answer.

Sheena could only answer with a nob as she glanced to the side; she knew she probably should have said more but the sudden appearance of the blonde chosen really took the ebony-haired ninja by surprise that she did not know what to make of it.

"What happened?" Colette asked.

"Colette...please...I don't want to relive that right now." Sheena responded while keeping her eyes on the ground.

The next action surprised Sheena as she saw the shadows shift in the light and the soft sound of Colette's footsteps against the hardwood floor came closer. Colette wrapped her arms around the shaken ninja as Sheena gave a breathless gasp, feeling her body pulled into a comforting embrace by the emotionally warming Colette. Sheena felt her jaw muscles tighten for a moment as she gave a brave grunt before feeling her resolve crumble before the gentle soul of the chosen.

"I'm sorry, Sheena...I did not mean to make it hurt." Colette whispered as she buried her face into Sheena's shoulder, giving the hurting ninja a small squeeze.

'_How...can she...do this to me?'_ Sheena trembled as she felt her tears following without restraint; Sheena's body went stiff as Colette continued to embrace her in comfort. "Not as sorry as I am." Sheena muttered painfully.

"I'm sure you did everything you could...your brought him here, Raine said his wounds have sealed...because you got him here as quick as you could." Colette whispered, rubbing her tears on Sheena's tunic.

"Is he...is he going to..." Sheena tried to ask, the hard lump in her throat held her words hostage as her heart mind could only focus on how every heart beat hurt in her chest.

"It's...too early to say, Raine did everything she could." Colette whispered in reply.

"I see." Sheena stated while closing her eyes and lowering her head. '_So I can only wait for him to see if he will ever open his eyes again or not._'Sheena thought in pained sorrow.

"I'm sorry...I could not be more helpful." Colette stated in a genuine voice.

"Don't be silly." Sheena muttered, forgetting one of the key traits of Colette was to take blame for almost everything that happened around her.

Sheena fought hard but the gentle young woman broke down the last tough wall that Sheena tried to hide behind as she submitted to the blonde and let her tearful sobs break through; Colette led Sheena's head to her shoulder as the ninja muffled her pains into the white cloth of Colette's chosen attire. Sheena felt her knees buckle and she feared she would burden Colette with her weight, forgetting that the blonde actually possessed a superhuman strength due to her transformation she went under just over two years ago.

The calming energy of the young blonde was enough to overwhelm Sheena as she felt her body surrender and her world became black.

- Three Days Later-

Sheena sat on the edge of the cliff again, this time looking towards the water before she heard the sound of footsteps landing lightly behind her. Blinking once, Sheena glanced over her shoulder to see Colette standing there with one hand over her heart as she too looked out towards the sea, her lovely angelic wings fluttering on her back before her blue eyes looked down towards Sheena and gave her a small, weak smile.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to come uninvited." Colette spoke softly.

The only answer the ninja could give her was a small smile as Sheena closed her eyes and shook her head before looking back to the water. "You are never uninvited with me, Colette." Sheena confessed.

"I'm...happy to hear that." Colette sighed as she sat down beside Sheena. "I looked so hard for you both." Colette confessed as she looked down at her hands. "Selfish...isn't it? I...I just wanted to see you both again."

"Colette..." Sheena spoke softly, turning to face the distressed woman. "It isn't selfish at all...what is selfish is that we both got so caught up in our quest that we probably have worried everyone that is close to us." Sheena stated as she watched the waves crash along the sand.

"Oh please, you both should not be worrying too much about us." Colette stated in a slightly flustered manner. "I mean...you both are trying to do something very noble...something that not many understand yet but it will help everyone in the world." Colette smiled weakly; Sheena knew that Colette was hiding what she thought would be a selfish thought of wanting to see them.

Sheena had to confess that even though the blonde was her rival for Lloyd; she did miss having Colette around to speak with and she missed seeing her smile and hearing her heart-lifting giggle and as much as the act sometimes made Sheena cringe in memory, she liked how much of a klutz the young, yet mature chosen was. Colette was Sheena's only female friend and was one of the only people to ever accept her for her and look passed all the things that Sheena saw as flaws and embrace her anyways. Sheena felt her tears line her sight again as she forced her vision back to the crashing waves so she could let the tears fall without notice.

"Has...has Lloyd..." Sheena whispered in pain.

"No...he has woken yet. But Raine said that he is stable and that he could wake up at any moment now." Colette tried to highlight the positive.

"Or he can just not wake up at all." Sheena said in a shaken tone.

"Ah...uh..." Colette looked to the side as her eyes half closed in sadness. "I'm...sorry." Colette whispered while her eyes closed completely.

"What?" Sheena whimpered as she brought her forearm to her face and wiped the tears again from her eyes. "Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything." Sheena pointed out.

"Exactly...I can't...I can't do anything for him." Colette spoke in a saddened tone. "He has always done everything for me...for us...and I cannot do anything." Colette shivered once.

"Oh Colette..." Sheena whispered, placing a hand gently on Colette's forearm.

-Two More Days Later-

Sheena sat on the edge of the bed as she slowly reached over to grab Lloyd's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Lloyd...you're fighting...right? You're not going to leave us are you?" Sheena leaned in close to whisper softly. "You're not going to leave me...are you?" rubbing her thumb over his hand before raising her other hand, hovering it over his face as she contemplated stroking his cheek tenderly. Her hand trembled before she managed to summon up the courage to place her hand on his face and stroke his features very tenderly, as if she would break him if she was not careful.

"Lloyd...I'm here...and I'll always be here, I'll wait...I'm waiting Lloyd...for you to return to me and I will not leave you, ever. I'm waiting, come back to me." Sheena whispered softly into his ear, a part of her hoped that he could hear her and that he would return for her and another part of her hoped that he did not hear her for fear out of how he would react to her being so...exposed to him.

The door opened as Sheena lifted herself off the bed and released his cheek from her caress and his hand from her tender grip so she could turn to face the one who was coming in, Raine.

"Anything yet?" Raine asked as she walked towards the Sheena, the ninja could only reply by lowering her gaze to the floor and shaking her head lightly. "The best thing we can do is make him comfortable." Raine stated.

"I don't want to go through this again." Sheena whispered as she glanced over to Lloyd.

"Again?"Raine commented as she tilted her head for a moment.

"First it was with Igaguri, I put the one I loved as a father in coma for years and for years and even now I still suffer with nightmares from it...and now." Sheena wished she could shut up, but she found herself unable to control what words were coming out of her mouth now that her fears were spilling out along with her sorrows. "Lloyd...the...the one I..." Sheena started.

"That is enough Sheena." Raine stated in a stern tone.

Sheena could only look over her shoulder with wide, tear-filled eyes as she stared at Raine in surprise at her sudden interruption and tone.

"Blaming yourself over what happened to Lloyd won't bring him back and it won't help anyone, not even yourself. Lloyd isn't like this because you put him in this state...Lloyd is like this because of the known enemy Valemeros did this to him." Raine firmly stated while folding her arms over her chest.

"But..." Sheena started, believing he would not be this way if she was faster.

"If it had not been for you he would have died for sure, Sheena." Raine stated while pulling out the exsphere embedded in her hand. "You gave him a fighting chance." Raine extended her hand as Sheena opened her shaking hand to Raine, letting the professor drop the exsphere into the ninja's hand. "He has a chance...because of you, focus on that and when he comes to...focus on who did this to him...that isn't you, that is Valemeros." Raine huffed out.

"Raine...I..." Sheena whispered while balling her hand into a fist, gripping the exsphere.

"I am not as heartless as some may think I am, Sheena." Raine confessed softly. "I only speak how I see things...I know what pain feels like and I know have you have been through and are going through...believe it or not, Sheena, I am sharing this with you. Your sorrow won't save you, won't heal you and it definitely won't help Lloyd." Raine slowly kneeled down as Sheena looked from her hand to the gray eyes of the professor. "If Lloyd were here right now...he would not want to see you cry, so don't." Raine gave a small smile.

"...Th...Thank you, Raine." Sheena muttered.

"Be strong, Sheena...if not for yourself...for him." Raine nodded before standing to her feet again.

"Such a heart-warming speech." Cat mused as she sat on the other side of the bed. Sheena stirred slightly when she heard the feline speak. "You should be happy, at least he isn't dead right?"

Sheena closed her eyes for a moment before she stood to her feet and gave Rain a subtle smile before walking passed the professor and walking out of the house. Sheena walked to the entrance of the village before turning on her heel to face Cat.

"Where have you been?" Sheena asked lightly.

"Paying my respects." Cat purred while licking the back of her paw.

"What?" Sheena blinked.

"A wounded heart needs its time to grieve and my presence probably would be one of the last things you would need." Cat gave a small feline smirk.

"Why don't I believe you?" Sheena voiced softly.

"I was also thinking." Cat confessed, Sheena did not think it was possible but she swore she saw the action of a shrug come from the feline while she sat on the ground at the ninja's feet.

"About?" Sheena probed.

"Why I don't understand." Cat replied while tilting her head to look up to Sheena with her penetrating green eyes.

"You figure anything out?" Sheena uttered softly, almost like she was fearing the answer that was to come.

"Nope, nothing." Cat answered in a stiff tone.

"You're reasons." Sheena stated.

"What was that?" Cat blinked while tilting her feline head.

"You tried to give me strength back in the plains and when I asked why you said you had your reasons...what were they?" Sheena asked, remembering back to that moment.

"So you can try and explain to me...what I don't understand." Cat purred softly.

Sheena looked down at the feline surprised before turning her gaze towards Raine's house.

"He is recovering fine now, right? Because you did not give up...why? How were you able to do so much?" Cat asked, tilting her head slightly in a curious fashion. "Most people in your shoes back then would have probably given up and done the dramatic, 'watch their companion die.' but you didn't." Cat pointed out.

"Be...because I couldn't..." Sheena whispered.

The purple ninja noticed the feline arch her ears in interest as she stared at Sheena intently.

"Because...I...I could not bare to think of my life without him, if I let him die on that field...I would have died with him. He...he has become a reason for me to push on. His devotion fills my dreams with hope, determination fills my body with strength and...his smile fills my heart with joy. I cannot picture being without him...not being able to look into his eyes...smell his wonderful scent in the morning. Every time he looks into my eyes...he exposes me for the woman that I am...I don't have to be anyone but myself for him...and he doesn't have to be anyone else for me...because to me...there is nothing more perfect than Lloyd Irving." Sheena spoke, as she continued to speak her voice weakened and her tears welled in her eyes as she stared at the house, like she could stare through and be looking at Lloyd as she spilled her heart out to Cat. "I...I love him." Sheena found herself confessing finally, for years she debated her crush in her head and now she opened the forbidden gate and spoke from the only source that would never lie, never try and debate her, never question her motives...her heart.

Cat blinked once and than turned her head to look towards the house that held Lloyd before looking back to Sheena.

'_I don't know what it is about her...but._' Cat thought to herself before she let her mind quickly flashback to when she was speaking with Valemeros and the deal they had made for Cat's co-operation. The effect of the miasma on Valemeros and what he had done to Sheena while she was asleep; he placed something in her forehead that was not visible anymore. '_I have to be crazy to even consider-_' Cat thought for a moment.

"I...I need to go back, Cat...I don't wish to leave his side." Sheena confessed through a teary voice.

"Sheena wait." Cat spoke out, making the ninja stop mid-step as Sheena looked down towards Cat. The feline had her eyes closed in deep thought before slowly opening them to look up to Sheena. "I must tell you something...that you must hear." Cat spoke cryptically.

Sheena blinked once before fully turning around to face the feline.

"Trust me, you are going to want to hear this." Cat said, blinking once while keeping her tone somewhat monotone with a hint of conflict tied in.

-Two More Days Later-

Sheena walked towards the edge of the forest outside of Iselia as she briefly went over what Cat had told her, about Valemeros and about the miasma that was locked in her heart...provided by Verius. The summon spirit was not answering her call and had become silent every since Lloyd had lost consciousness...she feared that the attack from the vile noble had somehow wounded Valemeros; however, Sheena was relieved with one fact that she knew the summon spirit was not dead...she felt him inside her still, a faint presence.

"Sheena." called out a voice from the tree lines.

"Orochi." Sheena replied as her life-long companion and ally emerged from the shadows of the trees, bowing his head respectfully to the Mizuho chief. "I didn't expect you to come personally." she added, giving a small smile.

"I had to come...to make sure you were alright." Orochi voiced with a hint of concern.

"I'll be fine, Orochi." Sheena muttered lightly, glancing to the side towards Iselia.

"How is he?" Orochi asked.

"He has recovered from a majority of his wounds, thanks to healing arts...but he hasn't..." Sheena felt herself choke for a moment as her eyes closed to pull out reserved strength; she had no desire to show weakness to her own clan. "He hasn't woken up."

"I'm sorry to hear, Sheena." Orochi sighed out.

"He won't give up...Lloyd never gives up, that is why I sent for them." Sheena tried to hide behind her tough facade once more. "His swords shattered in the fight."

Orochi nodded as he reached behind him, undoing a sting that the bundle was wrapped in leather that was attached to his back before offering the leather wrapped gifts to Sheena.

Sheena grabbed the bundle from Orochi as she slowly pulled the leather back to reveal the hilts of two swords, giving a small smile while she trailed her fingers across the surface of the hilts before looking to Orochi.

"Thank you." Sheena whispered.

"Igaguri said those are the two finest swords he has ever forged, took him over a year to get them perfect. He also said he knows why you wished to have these forged so he took the liberty of engraving the blades with charms." Orochi spoke out as he looked down at the master craft swords.

Sheena blinked once before she grabbed the hilt with red weave laced along the surface and pulled the sword just enough to expose some of the charms symbols; she discovered quickly it was not any charms at all, it was their villages native writing as she exposed enough of the blade to see the whole engraving. Tears welled up in her eyes for a moment as she gave a smile and traced her finger along the engraving for a moment to admire it. Sliding the sword back into the sheath she than grabbed the hilt of the sword that had purple weave along it's handle and pulled the sword free, what she saw engraved there only made her heart skip a beat as she became breathless for a moment and she looked right over to Orochi.

"He must be someone special." Orochi nodded once. "To even get Igaguri's approval."

"He is...words cannot express it." Sheena confessed as she pushed the sword back into it's sheath and then held the leather wrapped swords to her chest affectionately.

"I know he is..." Orochi confessed as he turned around towards the forest, glancing over his shoulder for a moment to look back at Sheena. "If he can bring that look to your eyes...then I know he is an exceptional man already."

"Thank you again...Orochi." Sheena whispered.

Orochi only nodded once before he jumped into the darkness of the forest.

Sheena walked back into the village as she looked down at the swords she held to her bosom in careful embrace. Igaguri had been famed at being able to make remarkable swords and for him to say that this was his best work meant the world to her to know that he made them for her...and more importantly was that he still made them his best work knowing that they were for Lloyd. Igaguri had given his approval of the young man and even though Sheena knew she would not leave his side even if he did not approve of him...gaining his approval meant more then she would be able to express at the moment.

Carefully twisting the doorknob, Sheena entered Raine's house only to freeze in mid-pace, seeing Colette sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Lloyd's hand as she seemed to be writing in his palm like she used to when she was stricken a mute from the adverse effects to her angelic transformation. Sheena could only watch in silence as Colette brought Lloyd's hand to her chest and placed it tenderly against her heart, making Sheena fluster nervousness as she looked to the side wondering if she should even be standing here watching this. Colette leaned forward, reminiscent to what Sheena did earlier as she watched the blonde lean in close to Lloyd's ear and whisper something that she could not hear. Sheena could tell just by Colette's arm positioning on the other side of her body that Colette had placed her hand tenderly across Lloyd's chest; as shameful as it may have been seen, Sheena could not help but feel a wave of jealousy wash over her as a blush flushed across his cheeks.

'_How long is she going to whisper into his ear like this with me standing here?_' Sheena thought somewhat bitterly to herself; Sheena would scold herself mentally later for thinking anything bitter towards Colette, she adored Colette and saw her as a true friend. '_How long do I have to stand here and take this._' She corrected her thoughts as she looked towards the door, furrowing her eyebrows. Sheena looked back and Colette was still whispering into the unconscious man's ear, her golden hair slowly slide out of place and blocked the image of her whispers. Sheena swallowed hard before looking to the swords she clasped tight to her chest for a few moment s before looking out towards the window.

"Oh Sheena," Colette spoke softly, making Sheena jump slightly as she turned her head to face Colette. The blonde chosen gave a light smile while continuing to 'write' in Lloyd's hand. Sheena gave a weak smile before walking over and then looked over to Colette before looking at her holding his hand, Colette looked to where Sheena glanced to and then have a nervous, innocent laughter. "Oh this...used to always write in his hand, I think he liked it and I think it will sooth him, don't you?"

Sheena could only nod before letting out a soft breath. "What were you whispering to him?" Sheena asked in a curious tone, trying not to sound jealous or possessive in any way.

"I was singing." Colette smiled softly, a light blush come to her adorable features.

"...Singing?" Sheena blinked absently.

Colette gave a cheerful nod before looking down at Lloyd with a saddened expression. "Lloyd always enjoyed my singing and I enjoyed singing for him because it always put him at peace and he would always smile at me when I sang." Colette gave a nervous laughter. "It was like the only thing I could ever do to return everything he has done for me."

"That isn't true, Colette." Sheena replied softly. "You have done so much for him...I know, I have watched it with my own eyes." Sheena spoke out, she hated to confess it considering her own interests; however there was no way she was going to let anything get between the bond between Colette and herself. "Trust me when I say this, Colette...you have given him more then you know."

Sheena looked over to see the teary-eyed chosen give a small smile of relief as she looked back to Lloyd while continuing to passively write in the palm of Lloyd's hand.

Sheena could never bring herself to detest Colette on any level as she gave a small smile and let out a small sigh. "What are you writing?" Sheena asked lightly.

"I am...telling Lloyd everything I have done over the passed two years." Colette confessed in an embarrassed tone. "All the people I have met, the doggies I have petted, the food I have eaten...how much I have missed him."

Sheena could only give a soft, almost unnoticeable laughter at that as she nodded at Colette's innocence. "Why...why don't you sing?" Sheena wondered.

"Oh...no no...I couldn't." Colette blushed as she looked down at Lloyd. "I only ever sang to help everyone fight because it seemed to help and I could only ever sing if I was...alone with Lloyd." Colette confessed as she sighed out before turning to Sheena. "I'm sorry."

"Hm, you're silly." Sheena whispered, earning a surprised look from the golden haired chosen. "What are you sorry for? I meant sing for him...I am sure..." Sheena felt herself hesitate for a moment before pushing the next words out. "I'm sure he like to hear you sing more."

"I...well...if he wants to...than I guess." Colette nervous spoke while nodding once. "I can do it...for Lloyd."

Colette leaned forward again as Sheena closed her eyes for a moment and forced herself to look to the window of Raine's house, all she could hear were pleasant hums from the chosen as she sand close to Lloyd's ear. The sound of her humming alone seemed to slow time as Sheena caressed the surface of the sword sheaths while thinking about Lloyd.

A gasp ripped through the air that made Colette jump up and gasp in surprise and made Sheena's eyes burst wide open as her head jerked to look towards the bed, Lloyd's body moved and his eyes were fluttering underneath closed eyelids. Sheena should have been stricken with glee the moment she saw that but she was too overcome with shock to feel anything as she watched Lloyd's brown eyes slowly open and his sights seemed to be looking towards the outside of the window.

"...Lloyd..." Sheena finally managed to whisper out as tears instantly lined the bottom of her eyes.

"Col...ette..." Lloyd whispered out in an agonized voice.

The first name he called to was not to Sheena...but it was to Colette and Sheena heard it as she felt her heart jerk for a moment, cracking slightly at hearing that name the first of which he spoke.

"Yes Lloyd...it's me...you're awake...I am so...so happy...my voice got to you." Colette gleefully exclaimed in teary-eyed happiness; Colette's head turned to look towards Sheena. "Sheena...he's awake! Lloyd is back!" Colette cheerfully spoke out while raising a hand to wipe some tears from her blue orbs.

"Col..." Lloyd whispered out weakly once more before he seemed to fall back to unconsciousness.

'_He called her name...not once...but twice.'_ Sheena painfully admitted to herself as she slowly lowered her head to look down at the swords she still held to her body, tracing her fingers along the surface.

"Oh no, Sheena...he passed out again." Colette proclaimed in worry.

Tears splashed against the hilts of the swords before Sheena gradually lowered them down to rest them against the desk, keeping her head down she did not want Colette to see her tears of pain as her heart slowly shattered, Lloyd did not call out to her...he did not even try. Over the week, Sheena whispered softly into Lloyd's ear to try and reach him and Colette did it in her very first try. Colette could reach him so easily when she could not...it was a painful truth. Two years together meant nothing compared to Lloyd and Colette's lifetime together. She had to pull herself together though...she needed to wall up her pain and shove it into the darkness and forget about it. Forcing a pained smile on her face she lifted her head to face the distressed chosen and walked over to place her hand on her shoulder.

"Please do no worry, Colette...what matters is he answered your voice...he returned for you. You can bring him back when no one else can...so you see? You can do something for him." Sheena painfully admitted while hiding just how much pain that confession caused her.

Colette gave a small smile while wiping her tears away. "Thank you, Sheena...I'll do my best, I won't give up." Colette nodded.

"I...know you won't." Sheena was not ready to face this yet; she thought she had walled up the pain but it was still a fresh wall that could be broken down easily.

"It is...getting late though. I should go." Colette spoke softly before preparing to stand.

The blonde haired chosen let out a soft gasp when she felt Sheena place her hand on Colette's shoulder and bring her back down to sit on the edge of the bed.

"No, Lloyd needs you right now...more then anyone else." Sheena felt herself almost choke on that fact, the hard lump in her throat had returned.

"Are...are you sure?" Colette blushed as she looked back to Lloyd. "He needs me that much?"

"...Yes." Sheena nodded before rubbing Colette's shoulder lightly; she spun around on her heel and started to walk towards the door, unable to stay in the room for much longer.

"Where are you going?" Colette blinked in surprise.

"I...I have to...take care of a few things, lock some things away and make sure everything is safe." Sheena voiced out with a shiver coursing through her body for a brief moment.

"Anything I can do, Sheena?" Colette asked in a low tone.

"No...something only I can do." Sheena sighed out.

"Oh...I'm...sorry." Colette muttered, feeling helpless.

Sheena gave a slightly cold smile as she she let out a light scoff. "Don't be, it's alright." Sheena muttered before leaving the house.

'I should...have known.' Sheena scolded herself as she felt one sense of relief wash over her mind when she stepped into the night...the darkness will hide her tears.


	28. A Miasma's relapse effect

Chapter 28

Note: This is going to take place in Valemeros's point-of-view, the reason being that Sheena's chapter was actually supposed to be longer; however writing 21 pages of work made me reconsider making it any longer and so, with Lloyd still out of commission, taking his place this Chapter is Valemeros...enjoy.

Valemeros felt beads of sweat forming across his forehead as his chest threatened to lock up as he walked through the hallways; he made an effort to avoid both Cecil and Monique, the last thing he would need is for them to be needlessly worrying about him.

Walking through the hallways, Valemeros took a sudden sharp turn as he seemed to walk right through the wall, disappearing into a hidden room while gripping his right arm just below the elbow as if in agonized pain. The noble's rich, purple eyes gazed upon the summon spirit that hovered before him, glowing runes on the ground in a circle to keep the summon spirit entrapped there.

Origin.

Valemeros looked towards the winged summon spirit for a moment, narrowing his eyes slightly as if the very sight of Origin irritated him. The half-elven noble pressed his shoulder against the wall as he leaned against the cold surface. Carefully sliding his hand down his arm he pulled the glove off his right hand while giving out a groan of pain.

"What is this?" Valemeros demanded as he tried to pull his hand into a fist' his face twisted in pain with the attempt.

A purple hue consumed half of his hand as Valemeros let out a pained breath, one eye closing in pain as his breath transformed into a grunt.

"Miasma poisoning." Origin replied casually.

"How is it possible? I cured it as quickly as possible when I first got burned by the lethal poison." Valemeros sneered for a moment, the pain was constantly cutting away at the nerves of his hand, even the subtle chill in the air burned his hand like acid.

"Why are you asking me?" Origin replied as the spirit looked to the side.

"Because...one of your little pets did this to me." Valemeros hissed in pain, the noble always held a minor pride in always being able to keep a control on himself; however the pain served as an amazing method of making the noble lose his composure. "If anyone has the most knowledge about the capacity of summon spirits...it's you." Valemeros confronted.

"I thought the summon spirits were your pets now." Origin replied with a subtle tone of disdain.

"Cute." Valemeros narrowed his eyes as he walked up towards the invisible prison that Origin was somehow sealed in. "You were the only summon spirit who I couldn't alter the mind of...the rest act like nothing has happened...but you seem immune to most spells." Valemeros confessed as he looked down at the runes. "You gave me the most problems by not surrender your powers of your own free will...Maxwell however had some nice knowledge on how to siphon it from you." Valemeros smirked suddenly, finding humor through the agony the returning miasma was giving him. "I think you forgot just who is in control here now." Valemeros muttered, staring Origin right in the eyes. "I am not asking you for the answer to my question...I am demanding that you answer my question." Valemeros frowned.

"I am not your slave, half-elf." Origin stated firmly.

"Oh yes you are." Valemeros nodded while his fingers pressed into his forearm; a small hope that cutting off some circulation to his arm would ease the pain the spreading poison was causing. "Summon spirits are nothing more then slaves, awaiting an answer...these so-called summoners have everything wrong by believing that we can live in complete harmony...you all have an infinite power over your elements...if you will not surrender yourself to me than as you can see; I shall find an alternative way to attain your power." Valemeros smirked in a bitter manner, one eye closing again as a twitch of pain shot through his power. "Now...know your place and answer my question."

Origin gave a subtle glare to the noble as his muscles twitched for a moment, as much as Origin wanted to fight what Valemeros was saying, the half-elf had somehow wrapped a collar around the necks of the summon spirits when he ripped them out from Sheena; Origin could not understand how a mere half-elf was capable of erasing the memories of summon spirits and enslaving them all, the spirits do not recall their pacts to Sheena and worse, do not remember anything having to do with her. To them...Valemeros was their only master. Origin felt the invisible chains that Valemeros wrapped around his neck as well and the more he was imprisoned, the more that chain slowly constricted while siphoning his power slowly; because Origin had the most fight he was able to resist surrendering everything over to the noble...however with the power Valemeros was stealing from the other summon spirits adding to add to his own power, Origin felt his fight crumble and the mystic cage that Valemeros imprisoned him was slowly beating down Origin's resolve and weakening him to the chains of enslavement. Now when he heard Valemeros make a demand of him, some insane part of his mind pushed him to answer because it was the only right thing to do...slowly, Valemeros was winning not only Origin's mind but was also gaining his power.

The fact that Valemeros was now able to summon the Eternal Sword was more then enough proof for Origin to know who he was now forcefully bound to.

"What you have suffered is no normal miasma." Origin felt his mind surrender.

"What do you mean...not normal?" Valemeros grunted, looking down to his infected hand.

"Concentrated and liquified miasma is not so easily cured as the gaseous miasma that your mortal race has experienced." Origin muttered while glancing to the side with a frown. "Miasma in a liquid is far more potent, consider the miasma in the gas to be the diluted form of the poison, that cure that you used could be called a suppressant to the liquid state; actually, no mortal has ever encountered miasma in such a potency so it is only natural that you do not know how to deal with it." Origin shrugged once.

"Then how do I get rid of this poison?" Valemeros hissed lightly as he felt another sting of pain cripple his arm, like someone had just dropped a white flame into his palm. The pain was starting to make Valemeros physically ill as sweat drops continued to fall down the side of his face.

"The cure is the same, the method is different." Origin confessed.

"Method? What method?" Valemeros asked while shaking his head once, trying to rid the dizzy sensation that normally came with a fever.

"If you ever got seriously sick and took medication...would you just start walking around, exerting your body so suddenly? No. Miasma is a sickness of the mana and the reason it is so fatal to many is because as you know, mana is infused with everything and a sickness of the mana is a sickness of every cell in your body." Origin gave out a minor growl, he despised aiding this half-elf that dared to call himself his master and even suggest that summon spirits were his slaves, but Origin was also falling victim to the nobles effects finally...not completely, slowly but surely. "Take the medication again, have it healed over by another and do not use any mana. What you are suffering now is a relapse from consuming so much mana with your fight with Lloyd Irving. You suffer another relapse like this, you will likely kill yourself." Origin warned.

"So then what you are saying? I am just supposed to be helpless for...for...how long?" Valemeros grunted through the sickening pain as the fingers of his right hand twitched painfully before twisting on their own and the muscles locked, this caused Valemeros to stagger as his vision went spotted for a moment...the first sign of a threatening black out.

"However long it takes, it can be tomorrow...it can be next year." Origin shrugged. "Depends how deep the miasma is in your body."

Valemeros let out an irritated growl at the concept of being disabled from using mana for however long it took for it to flush out of his body. '_Verius._' Valemeros thought bitterly; he was about to turn around and leave Origin to continue his battle of defiance before stopping and turning around to face the summon spirit.

"How do I get my hands on that miasma?" Valemeros managed to smirk though his own agony.

Origin breathed out once as he closed his eyes; his body gave a twitch as he tried to regain any form of self control; such a resistance was in vain as the chains slowly tightened around his neck the more that time passed and the more powerful Valemeros was becoming.

"Miasma in that state, your best chance of gaining such a weapon is from Gnome." Origin felt himself forced to confess as he closed her eyes.

Valemeros gave a one nod as he stepped forward again, stepping up to the glowing runes before giving a pained chuckle. "There...you see...that isn't so hard, now is it?" he teased before stepping back, arching one eyebrow in a slightly arrogant fashion before turning on his heel to walk out of the chamber that sealed away Origin, gripping his arm against his body still.

'_Relapsed...bah,even dead, Mr. Lloyd can be quite the pain._' Valemeros thought to himself before starting his walk back to his own chambers.

"Valemeros? What is the matter?" Luna frowned softly as she sat up from her peaceful resting position on her crescent moon.

"Miasma...just suffering a mild relapse." Valemeros breathed out once before he found himself losing his balance and crashing, shoulder first into the bookcase, tomes hitting the ground as the nobles knees buckled and he hit the ground hard in a kneel. Valemeros looked down as he noticed something he had not seen earlier, pulling up his sleeve he breathed out in agony. '_The miasma...is...in my veins?_' Valemeros thought as he noticed the deep purple shading over where his veins were up along his arm.

"Valemeros!" Luna exclaimed suddenly as she lightly slid off her crescent moon and walked over to the noble with surprising silence that complimented her graceful steps before she carefully knelt down beside the poisoned noble. "This is no mild relapse." she whispered softly.

"Luna..." Valemeros uttered painfully.

"Yes?" Luna blinked once, touching her fingers carefully to his shoulder.

"Mon...Monique...summon her." Valemeros grunted out before giving a painful pause as his eyes shut tight and he let out a silent scream to recollect himself. "Tell her...tell her to bring the miasma cure...there is some left." Valemeros asked of the gentle summon spirit.

"Right away, Valemeros." Luna whispered as she closed her eyes, reaching out to Monique's mind. "It is done, I told her to hurry to your chambers with the antidote; she will be here in moments." Luna spoke softly while reaching up to push some of her bight green hair away from her face, the dim lighting in the room always managed to give Luna's hair a golden shine.

'_I used...too much mana...with Extinction._' Valemeros cussed himself while enduring the burning pain. Valemeros felt himself fall to back onto ground, forcing his eyes to gaze at the ceiling, if he did not know any better he could swear that he could actually feel the miasma crawling higher and higher up along his arm.

"Valemeros." Luna whispered with worry actually hinted in her tone.

Luna was the only one Valemeros felt guilty about binding to him like a slave, the other summon spirits did not matter as much to him; he could siphon their power dry for all he cared; However, Luna is the beauty of the moon and he felt that she should be free but yet he wished to keep her close to him as well; with him, she would have a less chance of being used against him and so Valemeros chained and bound her to him; erasing her memories along with the other subservient spirits.

"...Luna..." Valemeros whispered in agony, still gripping his right arm tightly.

"Yes, Valemeros?" Luna replied softly.

"Lend...me your lap...please..." Valemeros asked.

"Of course." Luna gave a small comforting smile.

The ageless maiden carefully slipped her hands under the nobles head as she sat with her legs tucked under her elegant form, placing the head of the feverish noble in her lap as she rested her hand carefully onto of the mans purple shaded black hair.

"Monique shall be coming shortly, Valemeros. You just need to bear with the pain a little longer." Luna spoke softly; her eyes half closing as she inspected Valemeros. '_His mana structure is very unstable, almost like parasites are eroding away what keeps the mana in his body together._' Luna frowned while she carefully wiped the sweat beads that were falling down from his forehead.

"Lord Valemeros!" Monique called out the moment she opened the door, followed closely by Cecil as the two entered to bed chambers of the weakened noble. Monique's eyes darted around the room quickly and spotted Luna almost instantly; she narrowed her eyes for a moment before looking down to see a sight that caused the deepest fear to tremble through her body.

Never had she ever seen Valemeros laying on the ground and breathing as shallow as he was at that moment, the beads of sweat glistened in the dimly lit room.

'_It cannot be,'_ Cecil thought as he hesitated on advancing another step, taking in the shock of seeing Valemeros struggling so much. '_Is this Lloyd really powerful enough to cause this to Lord Valemeros?_' Cecil felt his teeth grit together as he watched Monique run forward and kneel before their fallen Lord. Cecil blinked once when he saw Monique gently pick up Valemeros hand, the bending at the elbow actually caused the half-elven noble's body to lock up as he let out a soundless scream of pain and Cecil knew instantly when he saw Valemeros hand in the dim lighting. '._..Im...Impossible...miasma is still infecting him?_' Cecil held his breath for a moment in surprise.

"How do I stop it's spread?" Monique asked Luna while twisting the lid off the container that sealed the herbal salve that was supposed to have cured it the first time around.

"You shall need to cut off the advance of the poison; it seems to have burrowed in deep into his bloodstream already. If it is not stopped now, sadly, I cannot guarantee his survival." Luna spoke softly. Even though Luna knew very little about controlling miasma, being the summon spirit of the light she was charged with the secrets of curing every aliment that could spread across the lands.

"How am I to do that?" Monique frowned lightly; her eyes staying on the shallow breathing Valemeros. "There is no way to get the salve into where the poison is because his wounds were healed over by my own powers the first time he got infected."

"Then you will need to get the curative properties inside his body, where he is infected so the salve can suppress the poisons advance and break it down enough to be cured with healing spells." Luna whispered, even the summon spirit hesitated to speak of what actions would need to be taken to allow the herbal salve entry.

"You want us to cut him open." Cecil uttered out in disgust. "Cut open Lord Valemeros so we can smear the salve into his blood stream." Cecil stated with a firm tone, making sure to confirm what the summon spirit was implying.

Luna closed her eyes as she gave a very light nod of agreement.

"You..." Monique felt a protective sneer curve the corner of her lips as she leaned forward to stare right at the summon spirit, watching as the gentle woman opened her eyes to meet with the glare from Monique. "How dare you..." she softly hissed, lifting a hand as she reached over, threatening to grab the woman by the fabric that crossed over her chest, just above her breasts.

"Monique...that is...not helping the situation." Valemeros grunted out in pain as he shifted his body, the woman's facial features almost instantly softened as she looked down at Valemeros.

"Lord Valemeros, there is no wound for the salve to be placed." Monique replied while dropped her hand away from Luna so she could look down at her fallen lord.

"Than...than make one..." Valemeros uttered out before grunting once more in agony.

The request actually made Monique feel sick to her stomach as she swallowed hard and forgot how to breath for a few vital seconds. "Wh...what are you saying?" Monique fearfully asked, just to get the clarification she knew she heard the first time.

"The salve...needs to...get into my bloodstream." Valemeros grunted out, every pause being caused by the twitches of agony that the relapse of miasma was inflicting to his body. Origin was correct in that the relapse was worse than when he was severely burned by the liquified poison the first time around. No text book he had read in his libraries every spoke of any case producing a backlash.

Monique felt violently ill the moment that Valemeros confirmed what her mind already knew but tried to battle anyway. The thought of being forced to inflict any pain upon her lord was asking too much for her; she had vowed to herself personally to never be the cause of any pain to Valemeros.

"Monique." Cecil spoke in a whisper as he walked closer to her, placing his hand on her shoulder gently in comfort. "I'll handle this part for you." Cecil somberly stated.

"Ce-ceil?" Monique frowned in surprise at Cecil's request. "You are going to cut his arm open? Lord Valemeros's arm?" a shiver of disgust at the thought tingling down her spine still.

"Do we have a choice?" Cecil stated in a bitter tone, doing his best to try and maintain a calm and cold expression across his face.

"I do not believe so, sadly." Luna spoke softly as she looked between Cecil and Monique before her eyes fell down to look at the suffering noble that was resting in her lap. "The longer we wait, the more chance the miasma may spread and if the poison reaches his heart." the summon spirit sighed out as he eyes slowly closed before completing her statement. "Then it shall be too late to remove it from his body and it shall only be a matter of time before the mana dissolves in his body."

"Then we must act quickly, for Lord Valemeros's sake." Cecil nodded before looking back down at Monique; her fearful expression would be burned in his mind for years to come, that much Cecil knew but he also knew what he had to do.

Monique forced herself to lean against the door frame and cover her ears while she tried to block out the screams of agony that came from inside from Valemeros from the combinations of how much nerves the miasma was burning away while the poison was slowly tearing apart the mana structure in his body; the agony of his arm cut open to administer was also one of the factors to the screams that erupted from the room. Monique had never in all the time she had been in Valemeros's life, heard the noble scream in such agony before; even when he was severely burned the first time by the miasma did not match what she was trying to block herself from hearing now.

"There is nothing more painful then feeling the mana separate in your body." Monique briefly heard Luna's voice in her head, a memory of what the summon spirit said to Monique before the tearful redhead forced herself to leave the room.

That phrase echoed in her mind now as she shut her eyes tight; the muscles of her jaw tightened while a surprising energy of anger swelled in her body and for that moment she wished with everything that she would be able to meet with the purple ninja again and put the claim of the summon spirit of the moon to the test.

"If there is...a more painful sensation than mana being separated; I'll find it...just for you, Sheena." Monique gave an aggravated growl in her tone.

Night came while Monique rested her forearms on the railing of the balcony, looking over the ocean that sparkled a radiance of white gold from the bright moon, creating a sight of breathless beauty in the dark, cold night. Monique rested her chin on both her forearms as she half-closed her eyes while dazing off for a moment.

"Valemeros..." Monique whispered out in a sigh; her mind relived on how their lives were five years ago, before all these events had started to unfold. Those were such happy times for Cecil and her.

'_What am I doing? I cannot be so selfish right now...life is not always going to be easy, sometimes you need to fight for it._' Monique thought as she shook her head once as if upset with her reminiscent thoughts.

"How did I know you would be here?" Valemeros asked as he walked up to stand beside the troubled young half-elven mage.

"L-Lord Valemeros." Monique jumped slightly as she stood up straighter and turned her head to look upon the noble with her bright green eyes.

She was relieved to see him up and about and better yet; his face was not twisted in any agony, not even hidden agony. Valemeros looked over to her in a glance and gave the greeting smirk that she could adored; that smirk always made Monique smile on the inside and tonight was no different.

"You are looking well." Monique responded with a small smile; she also did not want to worry Valemeros by acting out of her usual character, by not acting like the Monique he was used...the Monique he originally-the red haired beauty pushed those thoughts from her mind as she gave Valemeros a sultry smile as she placed her hand on the railing and leaned her body weight onto the stone surface. "What am I saying? You look more then just well, Lord Valemeros. As always you are stunningly and exceptionally handsome." Monique flirted.

"Heh," Valemeros responded, leaning against the railing and resting his weight on the healthy arm. "I need to ask you a favor, Monique." Valemeros spoke lightly while keeping his eyes to the water.

"I live to serve your wishes, Lord Valemeros." Monique truthfully worded.

"This miasma shall be present in my body for an undetermined amount of time." Valemeros started as he kept his eyes on the water of the ocean; the noble tapped his fingers casually along the stone railing. "Luna stated that I cannot use any of my magic for an undetermined amount of time...the mana in my body is unstable." Valemeros stated before Monique had to ask.

"Unstable?" Monique knew what it meant but she wished to know as much about it as possible so she could understand fully what her Lord was going through.

"As you can clearly observe, I can move around again. It is like I was never affected by the poisoning to begin with; however, the mana inside my body is very unstable and if I were to do another battle like I did with Mr. Irving it would likely kill me. If I had to compare it to something, picture the mana in my body like the natural immune system that wards off infections and the more mana I use the weaker my immune system is to stop the miasma sickness and worse; because my mana would be thin from exerting myself, it would also cause the mana to spread faster and that is why relapses seem to be worse than the original affliction." Valemeros briefly explained before casting his purple eyes over to Monique, seeing that she was listening intently.

"You cannot use magic anymore, Lord Valemeros?" Monique asked while trying to hide the expression of worry that was trying to surface on her face; her eyes gave her away however.

"For an undetermined amount of time, that is correct." Valemeros bitterly confessed while staring forward again. "While I am such a weakened state; I shall be depending on both Cecil and you to bodyguard me." Monique could tell that it pained Valemeros to even request such a thing and she could understand why, Cecil and she always looked up to Valemeros and never saw him as the one who needed to be protected. Through the years of which Cecil and she had known the young noble he had always been the one to protect both of them.

"It shall be my utmost pleasure, Lord Valemeros." Monique nodded once; even though she knew he hated to ask such a request, Monique could not help but feel happy that for once she shall be the one to protect Valemeros...to repay him for the times he had saved her. Valemeros's body gave a notable twitch of irritation as she glanced over to him to see his lovely purple eyes close while thinking about what he just needed to request. Monique knew his pride was wounded the moment he was forced to ask such a thing.

Monique let out a soft sigh before she looked to the ocean.

"Lord Valemeros." Monique whispered lightly to the distressed noble. "You know that I live to serve you in any way possible." Monique gave a supportive smirk as the eyes of the noble locked on the green beautiful orbs of her own. "Uh...Cecil too of course!" Monique quickly added with a touch of nervousness to the tone. "Besides, you gave both Cecil and I something that we could never repay you for." Monique actually softened her tone to that of comfort. "You gave us our lives...had it not been for you, half-elves like us would not have survived in the streets much longer." Valemeros gave a subtle shrug and she knew he was about to imply to not bother thanking him for his mercy. "You protected us and took us into your house, gave us names, a place within the manor and more importantly; you gave us both a reason to live." Monique battled the tears of happiness at the memories flashing in her mind. "Lord Valemeros, you have watched over, trained and protected us these past twelve years, please let us return the favor this once." Monique reached over, gently placing her hand on his left hand. "It is the very least we could do for you...for all you have done for us." her tone was not that of a whisper. The beautiful maiden took as step closet towards him as she boldly placed a hand on her shoulder and turned him to face her so she could rest both her hands gently on his shoulders, just above his collarbones while gazing into his eyes. "Neither of us, Cecil or myself, want anything to happen to you Lord Valemeros and we will support you to the end." she continued to speak a soft whisper. "You mean too much to us." Monique's expression changed slowly into a sultry smirk as she laced her fingers to lightly grip the fabric of Lord Valemeros's robe and gently pulled him closer to her, actually earning a blink of surprise as Monique shattered the tender moment by returning to how she normally is. "So for once...you are going to let us take care of you." she gave out a playful purring tone. "I have been waiting for the day that I could...take care of you." Monique winked.

"Hmhmhm, I guess my hands are tied then." Valemeros responded in a low tone as if he was telling Monique a deep secret while maintaining a sly grin on his face.

Monique gripped the black fabric of Valemeros's robe a little tighter as she leaned in close, to the point their noses almost touched, staring right into the nobles eyes with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Oh I can only wish."

The soft chuckle that Monique had grown to adore filled the air once more; she knew whenever he gave such an alluring chuckle it would only stir her up even more.

'_How I love you...Valemeros._' Monique whispered in her mind.

-One Week Later-

Valemeros sat his chair while shuffling through some papers on his desk, a perplexed expression on his face as he let out an irritated breath.

"Lord Valemeros?" Monique asked while peeking her head into the room.

"Hm?" Valemeros made the soft sound to ask the question of what she wished of him, slipping one paper from the front to the back of the pile.

"Richter is here, Cecil is trying to stall him but he doesn't seem to be much for conversation and even less with the patience." Monique informed while glancing over her shoulder, half her head disappearing behind the door before she looked back to Valemeros.

"I had forgotten." Valemeros confessed as he carefully placed the papers down and then glanced over to his right hand, tightening it into a fist with a slight narrow of his eyes. '_If my mana does not stabilize itself soon then it is going to put a stop to my plans._' Valemeros lip slowly curled into a snarl at the thought of all his hard work being wasted by one lowly summon spirit.

"Lord Valemeros?" Monique blinked, noticing his fist trembling in what she could easily see as anger, her expression slowly transformed into one of worry, wondering if Valemeros was blaming himself for the lose of his powers.

-Brief Flashback-

"Back again? Two visits in one night, I feel special." Origin bitterly remarked.

"How will I know when it is will be safe for me to use my mana to generate spells again?" Valemeros demanded, the sleeve of his robe thorn and still soaked with fresh blood while the surface of his skin glistened with the remaining red substance.

The moment the salve was administered, Luna used her own healing arts to seal Valemeros wound and aid the salve in once more sealing away the miasma so it could do it's job. Valemeros's arm still tingled numbly, a sensation that could only be compared to the nerves getting chilled on an extremely cold day.

"You will know." Origin quickly responded.

"Not good enough...I am not going to go by just 'You will know.' That will lead to second guessing and you know what will happen there? I will kill myself on a relapse." Valemeros firmly replied.

"That would be a shame." Origin stated in a monotone voice.

"You may not like me...but you will listen to me. Tell me exactly how I shall know this miasma is no longer a threat to me?" Valemeros shot out in an aggressive tone; his eyes slightly narrowing at the summon spirit while he advanced a step forward.

Origin gave a subtle glare the half-elf before seeming to give in finally as he closed his eyes while speaking. "You will know, when the miasma leaves your body it shall release the mana that it has been suppressing and that mana shall combine with the mana you are already storing in you body and not using. When both those sources combine together it shall all release like an explosion, a flood of mana if you will. All that shall need to be released and it will force out all the access mana; you power shall increase in a massive burst for a short period of time and that is when you know you have recovered from the miasma poisoning." Origin bitterly confessed.

Valemeros gave a subtle smirk at the idea of gaining a burst of power, unfortunately he also knew he would not be able to control when he gained this sudden rush of mana. There was no way he would be able to keep such knowledge up his sleeve as a hidden advantage and neither Origin nor Luna had an answer to how long the miasma poisoning would last and he trusted Luna to tell him the truth; she was the summon spirit of light, the mother of all light based spells in a sense, she would know a cure for any poison and how long recovery would take if such a thing could be predicted.

"Hmhmhm, critical knowledge to have and you ke-" Valemeros started to say.

The noble was abruptly cut when Valemeros snapped out of his flashback; blinking in a somewhat bewildered manner before realizing where he was.

"Go to Richter, tell him that I shall meet with him very shortly." Valemeros nodded before Monique gave her nod in reply and disappeared behind the door while it came to a close.

Valemeros glanced down at the papers at his desk as he gave a subtle smirk and shrugged once before pushing himself up from his desk and walking over to the large, golden-framed mirror in his and made his last checks to make sure that he was presentable before nodding once. The noble looked down at his right hand, turning it so he could look at the back of his and gazed upon the dark purple exsphere that was mounted in the golden keycrest, reaching over as he touched a thumb over the marble like surface. Retreating his left hand away he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his thin leather gloves so he could slip it on to cover over the keycrest and complete his self image of what he had accepted as his public appearance before turning around to exit the room.

"Know that I despise when a noble thinks they are doing me a favor by keeping me company with their servants." Richter stated in a firm, disapproving tone, not caring that both Monique and Cecil were still in the room.

That was Richter's greeting to Valemeros the moment that the noble entered the room.

"I enjoyed their company though, Richter." Emil worded softly, the crimson haired researcher gave a subtle glare towards his more gentle companion. "Or...not?" Emily nervously stated while looking to the side nervously, his attention suddenly engulfed by the fireplace.

"I am very busy, Lord Valemeros, make it quick." Richter commented while walking over to close the distance.

"How dare you speak to Lord Valemeros in such a-" Monique started before being cut off by Valemeros lifting his hand lightly.

"Quite alright, Monique. I knew exactly what type of man Richter was when he came to my attention." Valemeros commented. "How is your Vanguard coming along, Richter?" Valemeros asked casually while folding his hands behind his back.

"Not as difficult as you would think." Richter commented quickly. "Many of the Sylvaranti are very discontented with how those of Tethe'alla treat them, look down on them, and even abuse their people. Promising a solution is gaining a quick response of support." Richter stated in a stern tone while reaching up to press his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose.

"As predicted, that is good news indeed. I have something that would actually aid in the crusade." Valemeros commented as the noble gave a subtle smirk. Richter gave the noble a slight tilt to his head, a silent unasked question that Valemeros only gave a chuckle to. "Surely you did not think that I would just sit on the side and not have my own part in this." Valemeros walked towards the fireplace so he could gaze upon the burning embers. "In my storage, there you shall find a countless number of keycrests and exspheres." Valemeros informed with a sly smirk. "as you know, an exsphere can turn your basic village into a fighting warrior at least, pushing people beyond their normal limitations of their body. Such a tool should help gain even more support to let people know you can give anyone a fighting chance." Valemeros glanced over his shoulder.

"Where did you get a dwarf to make so many keycrests?" Richter asked, narrowing his eyes in a suspicious manner.

"Please, I have been preparing for this moment the day the worlds melded together, I have had two years to gather so many keycrests and get new ones forged. I have the ear of the king, all I needed to do was convince him that as a gesture of good will, we need to get new keycrests forged for the many suffering Sylvaranti that were former slaves of the Human Ranches and without a keycrest they shall turn into monsters. The king found me a dwarf and we banded together to make these keycrests for those slaves...the only thing is, those survivors shall not see them." Valemeros turned around to face the inspected researcher. "They are needed for a much higher cause; that is where you come in." Valemeros gestured with one hand before folding his hands behind his back again with a subtle smirk.

"You are a sinisterly clever man." Richter said in an ironic tone.

Even though the young noble knew he was not saying it as a compliment, Valemeros could not help but give a smirk as he gave a tilt to his head while observing the researcher. The moment of silence between the two seemed to stretch far longer then the seconds that actually passed by.

"You have your supplies now, gaining suitable supporters to attach them too shall not be too much of a problem now I shall assume." Valemeros completed.

"And what shall you do now that you have supplied these exspheres? Perhaps you would like to see some of the people I have trusted as officers." Richter commented, the tone used was one that obviously showed that he did not care one way or the other what the answer would be.

"I have matters I need to tend to, I shall leave that to you." Valemeros turned around, putting his back to the research as he looked back to the burning fire.

"So that is all?" Richter asked.

"That is all." Valemeros confirmed. "Cecil shall guide you to the storage room when you are ready to take your leave."

"We leave now." Richter huffed out, looking towards the door.

"Umm." Emil nervous stated, looking to Richter for a moment as the man cast a cold glance his young companion. The urge to be silent followed as he dropped his gaze to the floor, so he was not locking eyes with Richter anymore. "N-nevermind."

"Speak you opinion, Emil." Richter confronted.

Monique blinked as she observed the tense air around both of their guests and she looked over to Cecil wondering if such a thing was actually normal between a leader figure and their subordinates; the only thing that Cecil replied to Monique's silent question was a casual shrug.

"N-no, it's nothing Richter." Emil reassured, trying not to sound shaken.

"Emil, you really need to be more brave. Have more confidence in yourself and speak you mind." Richter demanded in a slightly aggressive tone.

"It's just...well..." Emil stuttered.

"Say it." Richter coldly reassured.

"I'm...hungry...and using that teleporting thing to get here made me...uh...tired." Emil nervously stated as he attempted to sound as brave as he could at the request of Richter. Emil kept his head lowered while bringing a hand to the back of his head to rub it gently so at least his arms were doing something; discomfort forced Emil to shift and move, do something at least to try and distract himself.

"Hm." Richter responded while folding his arms and looking down at the young swordsman.

"Sorry." Emil said when he heard the response and felt Richter's eyes lock on him.

"Don't be." Richter confronted while looking over to where Valemeros was standing. "We shall be staying here until Emil's fatigue vanishes." Richter commented.

Valemeros lifted a hand and waved it off; like the very request to stay longer was not even worth mentioning, symbolizing that he should have assumed it would be safe to stay with pestering the noble with such a minor detail.

"Come then Emil." Richter commented while turning and walking towards the door.

"You not going to...cook are you?" Emil hesitatingly asked.

"I have improved my cooking skills." Richter said in a mildly defensive tone.

Emil gave a subtle moan while he nodded once, already his face had started to become a little pale from the thought of what Richter may cook this time around.

"Fine." Richter confessed.

Both Richter and Emil walked down the hallways of the manor, Emil looked behind him and than looked around to make sure they were alone before looking over to Richter who was only looking in front of him.

"Um...Richter?" Emil wondered.

"What is it, Emil?" Richter asked, glancing over to the young blond.

"So then what are we going to do now?"

"Hm, it would seem that I was correct; this young noble does not know what he is getting into and he does not know who is trying to use. Valemeros has supplied us with exspheres and keycrests and I shall be sure to make the most use of them; however, this noble still things he can be safe by sitting on the sidelines. What he does not know is that now that he has served his purpose...we in the Vanguard will soon have no need for him anymore." Richter casually remarked in a cold and calculating manner, the very statement actually earned a minor smirk from the researcher.

"Wait, you mean we're going to betray him?" Emil asked in a stunned tone.

"Betray implied a pledge of loyalty, Emil. I do not recall agreeing to be a slave to some noble in the very beginning of this, the noble just implied he gained a puppet he can toy with." Richter pointed out while the two continued to walk down the carpeted corridor.

"Well...what are you going to do with the Vanguard then?" Emil could not help but wonder.

Richter glanced over to Emil, contemplating telling the young man.

Meanwhile, Valemeros continued to gaze into the flames of the fire while keeping his hands folded behind his back.

"My Lord," Cecil started, gaining a backwards glance from Valemeros. "I cannot say I completely trust that man." Cecil confessed while looking the closed door.

"I am with Cecil on this one, Lord Valemeros." Monique spoke out in a whisper-like tone, loud enough for both of her companions to hear.

"That is only natural." Valemeros chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Cecil wondered, a long 3 seconds passed before he mentally reminded himself of what he forgot to add. "My Lord." Cecil added to complete his inquiry.

"Oh, the wheels in that mans head have been turning the moment I first invited him here. Richter is going to take the exspheres and the keycrests and than he shall separate himself from me; he will take full control of Vanguard." Valemeros spoke while keeping a smirk on his tone. "People like him cannot be controlled by men like myself, they are pushed by their own personal agenda that even I cannot change...manipulate and take advantage of however." Valemeros grinned while slowly turning around to face his two loyal subjects.

"You are not going to stop him?" Monique wondered out loud, folding her arms over her chest as she gave a slight tilt to her head to express her curiosity.

"No, you see...by Richter taking full control of Vanguard it actually cuts my ties to them and so I cannot be a suspect the king and I maintain being one of the trusted voices in the King's ear. I can encourage him to bring his army together and force the Vanguard and Tethe'alla to go to war...it shall all fall into place very soon." Valemeros grinned, expressing a glee that at least this part of his plan was all falling into place. Valemeros also ignored the fact that his plan was going as smoothly as it was, if his plan continued to flow by so easily then his only worry was that his mana was unstable and he would need complete control over his mana in order to finalize the last step of his plan.

"Are you sure he will play according to plan, My Lord?" Cecil asked.

"Hmhmhm, there are various reasons why I choose Richter for this and him being predictable due to his nature and how he thinks is one of the reasons why I selected him." Valemeros confessed before looking to the window that looked out to the night skies. "Cecil, Monique." Valemeros spoke out; both of them responded to their names being called by standing a little straighter and more at attention as they both looked to their lord. "It is important that we move these plans as soon as possible, I cannot wait for Richter to be ready, gather the exspheres and the keycrests and get them out of the manor." Valemeros commanded.

"Right away, Lord Valemeros." Monique smiled lightly.

-Days Later at Night-

Valemeros walked to the balcony of his manor as he stepped along the stone surface and walked over to the right of the balcony and continued his walk up the stairs that snaked around the top of the manor to lead to the top of the manor. It was there that the young noble liked to spend his nights, it was so peaceful to him and it was there that he could enjoy looking at the night skies when they were their clearest.

Dark purple eyes looked up into the skies as he set his eyes on the brightly lit moon, casting it's radiance over the dark ocean surfaces. Valemeros closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of the salty ocean air while the wet breeze slide through his long, near pure ebony locks, the moon only gave a minor hint that his hair had a purple tint to it's surface.

"It is only a matter of time." Valemeros remarked when he realized his plan was soon going to come to fruition. Valemeros's eyes opened once more as he looked at the glittering stars that brought the otherwise black canvas of the night skies to life. "Humanity...shall never be the same after this and that is exactly what I am hoping for." Valemeros gave a sudden grin at the thought. "Then they shall feel the vengeance...the fury of the half-elves."

Valemeros gave out a chuckle before something in the night skies caught his eyes; his laughter stopped instantly as he blinked once. "Hm?" Valemeros sounded as his eyes followed the light in the skies, it shot passed the night and disappeared into one of the few clouds, it was only seconds when the illuminated anomaly appeared on the other side of the clouds. Valemeros could only squint his eyes as he tried to make out the object that disrupted his otherwise peaceful moment.

The object had a tail, that much could be told, a tail made of fire while the rest of it's body was concealed by the darkness. One thing that could be made out in the light of the moon was that the body of this object was shiny, like a carapace of some insect or even metallic. The object flew passed the manor, high up before turning out in a wide arch before making it's way back over the manor.

Such an action only made Valemeros even more suspicious as he watched the objects movement. The object flew over him as his eyes continued to follow the speed that the thing flew.

"VALEMEROS!" shouted a voice from high up.

Valemeros's eyes shot wide open as his sights left the burning tail of the flying object; his eyes instantly looked to the source above his head and what he saw was enough to shock him as his lips parted slightly in bewilderment and he tried to step back.

Falling down towards him, baring twin swords, wearing a red jacket was none other then Lloyd Irving; back from the dead and his eyes were locked on Valemeros as he dropped down towards the half-elven noble, his swords already draw and at the ready as he slashed down towards him.


	29. An Eternal Swordsman rearmed

Chapter 29

_Note: Sorry it is so late, should have been in sometime last week but I had been distracted with a strange addiction towards League of Legends. I am over it now and now that the wait is over and hopefully you can all forgive me; I give you Chapter 29. Hope you all enjoy._

The night was surprisingly cold in the small village of Iselia, the chill coming from the ocean breeze that marched across the flat lands between the village and the shores. Trees never grew to separate the beach from the village, being only a fields walk away; Sheena had been managing to find peace over the week of Lloyd's recovery by sitting on one of the cliff sides, away from the glaring eyes of the Mayor or any of the villagers who supported the Mayor and allowed Sheena to look at the blue waters. Now she sat there to try and clear her mind and to find a comfort as well as finding a form of acceptance and not let her jealousy hinder a good friendship she had with the adorable Colette.

'_Aside from Lloyd, Colette has been the only one who accepted me for who I am when I first joined the group._' Sheena thought; she had never considered Genius too often due to the fact that sometimes he was being subtly influenced by his elder sister who did not take to her at all. '_I am happy that Lloyd was awake and that he will be fine now, I am so happy that he is going to wake up and not end up like...like..._' Sheena shook her head of her troubling past. '_But if I am so happy...then why._' she started to think, remembering the scene when Lloyd woke and the name he said first, the first person in his mind. '_Why do I feel so...awful?_' she hugged her knees tighter to her chest '_Colette is such a remarkable girl and I am so happy to have her as one of my closest friends...yet...I cannot help but feel...angry._' Sheena thought bitterly, tears lined her eyes once more as she felt absolutely disgusted with herself for feeling any negative emotion towards Colette. '_I am such an...Awful woman._' Sheena surrendered while closing her eyes, refusing to look at the world anymore; feeling unworthy of such a sight.

Sheena heard the sound of footsteps landing behind her. How did they manage to get right up behind her? Was she that distracted in her own thoughts? It was probably Colette; she had used her wings to fly up and then, being the adorably clumsy girl that she is, probably made her wings disappear when she was still in the air and landed hard onto the ground. Sheena still could not bring herself to open her eyes to meet with the blonde chosen. She had done nothing wrong and Sheena was not even going to greet her; Sheena could not help but sink a little deeper at how far she had fallen to her jealousy.

"Sheena?" whispered a low, calming yet worried tone that made Sheena's eyes burst open and her heart skip a beat as she gasped in silently.

Snapping her head to the side, Sheena instantly reached up to wipe the tears away from her eyes in haste before her eyes saw what her ears had hoped had not been a trick of the mind. She could only sit there, curled up still, in silence as her wide, moist eyes gazed upon the reawakened Lloyd Irving. The young man had somehow found a new set of clothing to wear, it looked almost like his usual attire except for just a few minor differences that Sheena did not pay much attention to before she slowly forced herself to get to her feet.

"L...Lloyd? Lloyd?" Sheena asked in a shaken tone, afraid she had actually fallen asleep on the cliff side and that this would end up being a dream. The young man gave her a nervous yet wide smile as he raised a hand to the back of his head and rubbed it nervous before giving a confirming nod. Sheena felt that her nerves were completely shot, she had grown numb over the overwhelming power of bewilderment; Lloyd Irving was standing before her right now and the smile that managed to melt her heart was shining on her soul once more.

"Sheena...I am so glad you are-" Lloyd started before Sheena felt the need to cut him off.

If this was a dream, she could not forgive herself if she let this moment get away from her. She pushed aside her usual tough girl demeanour and let the woman inside her, that wanted nothing more than tender affection, out as she stepped close to the recovered swordsman and slipped her arms around his lower body. She could feel his body tense for a moment as she linked her fingers together behind his back and she rested her head on his shoulder while pulling his body up against her own.

Over the week, Sheena had washed her tunic in the nearby stream just outside the borders of Iselia, it took a lot of time and effort to get Lloyd's blood out of her tunic and emotionally it was hard to see so much blood wash down the stream; however, she is glad she did that because now she was able to stand her at least somewhat cleaned and hold his body close to her own. Sheena could hear the heart beating through Lloyd's shoulder, it was fast from his tension of the moment but she heard it loud and strong, just like she had always pictured Lloyd being. Sheena felt her hands break from his lower back as she reached up to his shoulders and dug her fingers into the fabric of his red jacket before clasping the material hard in her grip, she needed to feel him and make sure he was here in this moment for her and that he came to her when she needed him.

"You're alright...I am so glad." Sheena whispered in a mixture of joy and sorrow.

"I...ah...yeah, but that is my line." Lloyd managed to reply, his voice so close to her ear.

To have such a vivid dream, to be able to hear his voice so close to her ear, to feel his warmth against her body, holding him, touching him and even a dream powerful enough to smell the faint scent that could only be described by her as the smell of Lloyd, a mixture of crisp, almost winter like air along with the fresh smell of rainforest pine from their adventures.

"It was torture to know you were captured by that creep, Valemeros." Lloyd whispered with such a sweet sense of concern was touching the deepest reserves of Sheena's heart as she felt the man tremble once, a tremble of fear. "Sheena?...Sheena...that hurts." Lloyd uttered in slightly pain as his body fidgeted under the pressure of Sheena's fingers against the back of his shoulders.

Sheena's felt her heart jolt once more, this time out of fear of her own as she realized that she was pressing her fingers into the recently sealed wounds of Lloyd's shoulders and Sheena knew first hand that Raine's healing can save lives and speed recovery to an unbelievable degree; however, the pain always lingered even over a fresh wound as the body continued to restore any damaged tissue.

"Oh Lloyd, I am so sorry." Sheena stated in a flustered manner as she pushed herself away from Lloyd so she could look at his face, keeping her hands on the sides of his body as his hands came up to grab her arms lightly. The look she was greeted with instantly washed away any negative thought she was feeling from hurting him. The look she got was one of his eyes opening, the other still closed from the flinch of pain as he gave her a warm smile still and gave a very light laughter.

It was amazing that Lloyd could be so cheerful during such dark times right now, it was something that she needed now more than anything and he did not fail to give her such reassurance.

"It's alright; I am just a little sore still." Lloyd confessed while still managing to maintain a cheerful tone before his one closed eye slowly opened while looking at her.

'_I do not want to wake up._' Sheena thought to herself as she pulled him close once more, only to hear the laughter of the young man as he rubbed her back.

"I am sorry for worrying you so much, Sheena." Lloyd whispered close to her ear.

"You're damn right you worried me!" Sheena almost screamed as she rubbed her face into his shoulder to discard the tears of joy. Sheena's hand rose to his shoulder as she closed her hand into a fist and started to lightly hammer her hand into his shoulder, making the swordsman flinch lightly as she let out her pent of frustration of worry. "You are such an idiot sometimes." she said through her clenched teeth before resting her forehead on his shoulder.

"I know...I know." Lloyd whispered through the sting of pain.

"Damn you, Lloyd Irving." Sheena whimpered lightly while she breathed out deeply to try and regain her composure.

"I'm sorry...I did not know I worried you so much." Lloyd confessed while trying to calm her down still by rubbing her back tenderly.

A light snap was felt in her heart as her eyes opened for a moment and the irritation in her body, mind and heart rose incredibly fast. "What is that supposed to you? You saying that you do not think I would care? I gave everything I could for you." Sheena called out in a firm, almost biting tone.

"Shh, Shh." Lloyd remarked as he placed a hand on the back of her head and brought her back against his body and rested her head on his shoulder. The potent, calming scent of Lloyd worked its magic over her body quickly as she felt her irritation die almost instantly. "That is not what I meant, you know that, Sheena." Lloyd commented.

Sheena felt his fingers get tangled into her black hair, the tug at her ribbon that held her hair in place was proof enough for Sheena to know that when his slide his hand to the back of her head, one of his fingers got caught in the fabric and now he was tangled and now Lloyd was lightly tugging and shifting his hand to try and break his finger free. A very light giggle left Sheena's lips as she realized what had happened to him, it was so signature Lloyd to do something like this.

'_So adorable._' Sheena thought to herself, feeling her head shift lightly with every motion he tried to do, she could tell he was trying to be careful and trying not to let her know that he was trapped in her hair, but every light tug was easily felt by the purple ninja.

A sudden blush highlighted her cheeks as she dared herself to think of touching lips with the young swordsman, this was her dream after all. His hand was already on the back of her head; all he would need to do is stare into her eyes and then slowly pull her head towards his. That thought was too much to ignore as Sheena lifted her head away from his shoulder so she could look into the deep, intense, and meaningful eyes of Lloyd Irving, all she would need to do is silently plead with him with her wanting brown eyes.

Lloyd stared right into her eyes as his perplexed expression slowly faded from his face, the thought of his fingers caught in her hair and ribbon was now the last thing on his mind at least that is what Sheena swore she saw in his eyes.

"I am sorry I made you cry." Lloyd confessed while he brought his free hand up to her face to gently brush aside the streaks of tears on her cheeks.

"Don't be sorry for these tears, Lloyd. They are tears of happiness that you are alright." Sheena bashfully confessed as her eyes glanced to the side, unable to maintain her gaze while she said those words.

The sight she saw made her blink once as she held her breath for a moment.

'_C...Cat?'_ Sheena's mind screamed in bewilderment.

There, sitting on one of the rocks at the edge of the cliff was the green-eyed feline, silently watching while she gave a curious tilt to her head.

"Oh don't mind me, please continue this monumental moment." Cat purred contently.

Sheena knew instantly that this was no dream then. She had never dreamed of Cat before and she knew she probably never would dream of the feline. Her heart hammered violently in her chest as a shiver claimed her body, fear replaced everything as her head slowly turned to meet with Lloyd Irving once more. How she wish she could utter out anything right now, her throat was now painfully dry in seconds while she felt her body try to shrink back away from Lloyd.

'_Th...This isn't a dream?_' Sheena panicked.

The heat from his body was one of the things that Sheena suddenly became acutely aware of, the painful silence that was only filled with very faint sounds coming from the village below and the sound of the waves against the golden sand shores outside the village.

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked; she could see his invading eyes in the shadows of the night. The dark cape over the skies did not hide her enough from him and that only made her even more timid as she felt her cheeks turn to flames from the growing blush that accented the surface of her skin.

The fact that Lloyd's hand relaxed on the back of her head as he looked down at her did not reassure her in any way as his hand lowered from her moist cheeks to her shoulder. The intensity of his brown eyes were penetrating her soul, implanting the haunting memory of this moment in Sheena's mind as every slow second passed.

"What is wrong with you!" Sheena suddenly felt herself exclaim loudly as both her hands pressed against the young man's shoulders as she shoved him back, his fingers slide out from her ribbon with surprising ease as he stumbled back and he actually tripped on an absent rock, landing on the ground with a sudden thump.

Sheena felt herself spin on her heel so her back was to Lloyd, her right hand crossed over her chest so her hand lay gently over her wildly pacing heart as if such a gesture would calm it down. Her mind raced as she tried to think of how to deal with this moment and what had just happened between them and even worse, how much she had exposed herself to him. Sheena could only hope that Lloyd going to take the dense road and spare her the self-inflicting agony that her mind was doing to her; sadly she knew that Lloyd could not have been that dense as to miss everything that happened between them on this clear night.

"Smooth." Cat commented casually.

"It is good to see that Lloyd has recovered." sounded the voice of another male in the area, making Sheena's nerve jump instantly before her head snapped to the side to side as Yuan walked into side from the corner of the cliff side, the concealing cape covered his entire body as he stood behind Lloyd. The brown haired young man looked up to Yuan from his prone position, his smile faded from his lips as he stood to his feet to face the former companion of Mithos.

"Ho-how long have you been there?" Sheena asked, mustering up as much of a demanding tone as she could, feeling her body tense while she waited for the answer.

"I have been watching over the village while waiting for Lloyd to recover, at least hoping that you managed to get him here in time." Yuan replied while looking towards the flustered ninja.

"Yuan?" Lloyd blinked in surprise.

"Lloyd, listen well because this is important." Yuan started while closing the distance, casting a side glance to Sheena.

"Do you want me to get the others to hear this as well?" Lloyd commented his tone became almost deathly serious as the cheerful Lloyd was suddenly hidden behind his stern, meaningful expression while keeping his eyes locked towards Yuan.

"There shall be no need; everyone that matters is here right now." Yuan said while closing his eyes in a casual manner.

"Even Sheena?" Lloyd wondered, his serious brown eyes looking in her direction. Sheena knew it was not the right time, but just how serious those eyes locked on hers sent an unusual tingle down her spine that she managed to hide completely.

"This concerns her as well." Yuan confessed casually.

"Good. I was going to insist she stay no matter what you said." Lloyd folded his arms; his tone had not left the haunting depth of solemnness.

Sheena could not help but give a very faint smile at hearing that Lloyd wanted her around no matter what the aqua haired, ancient angel had said.

Yuan gave Lloyd what Sheena could see as a form of smile before his stern features returned; he still had his eyes closed and the man stood completely still. Seconds of silence passed before Yuan continued to speak.

"I bring a warning...from Martel." Yuan said in a grave tone.

"M-Martel?" Sheena whispered to herself.

Yuan had become the guardian of the new world tree that was growing and supplying the world with mana; but more than that, Yuan also guarded the Summon Spirit that watched over the tree protectively and that Summon Spirit was the reincarnation of Martel. The remaining Renegades that did not wish to leave the service of Yuan, those devoted and loyal to the leader turned guardian had become watchers over what was now deemed as the holy guards surrounding the world tree.

"If nothing is done than the visions that Martel spoke of shall come true." Yuan spoke in an unnervingly calm voice.

-Yuan's Flashback Story-

"The last flame of the half-elves, the last beating heart of the Desians shall bring forward the war of history." Martel whispered lightly, closing her eyes as Yuan bit his bottom lip lightly.

"The Kharlan War?" Yuan hesitatingly asked.

Martel only gave a distressed nod while keeping her eyes closed. "The war's grounds shall take place at the base of the Tree of Mana. The blood of the dead will taint the roots of the reborn tree and weaken my bound to it. The noble half-elf will capture me and use my power to end the Kharlan War once and for all and bring the humans to the brink of extinction." she whispered in an echoed tone, clasping both her hands together as if she were in prayer while she told her prophecy.

"There are no more Desians, at least I thought." Yuan frowned for a moment in thought, pulling an arm free from the cape that covered his entire body, rubbing his chin lightly. "Who is leading these Desians?" Yuan could not help but ask. He had made sure to keep himself well informed of the officers that were a part of the Desians or even a part of Cruxis that would be capable of taking command of the remaining soldiers that survived the final battle leading up to the defeat of their supreme leader.

"The one that shall lead them into the dawn of the new age from the blood of humans is a half-elven noble with the ear of the king." Martel's eyes slowly opened when she spoke to Yuan.

"The ear of the king?" Yuan spoke lightly while one eyebrow shifted in thought as his gaze turned upwards to complete the image of thought. It was not going to be of any use however, he would need to investigate a little more and get information on the unknown face. That was not the matter that was important at the moment however, it was Martel and her prediction. "How do we stop it?" Yuan asked.

"Yuan, you cannot go in this alone…or you shall perish." Martel whispered lightly in an ominous foreboding tone, although the female before him had the name of Martel, Yuan found out long ago that she was far from his beloved Martel that he lost so long ago, this Martel was fashioned after the actual Goddess of Mana. "This task falls onto the shoulders of the Eternal Swordsman; the world shall need his strength once more if we are to avoid the coming of the second Kharlan War, a war between humans and half-elves…a war that humans will not be able to win."

"Lloyd Irving." Yuan uttered to himself, glancing to the side as he let out a soft breath. A secret conflict rushed through his mind as he remembered his promise to Kratos about looking over the young swordsman while Kratos was gone. "Only he can stop this? Why?" Yuan asked, focusing his eyes back to Martel.

"Many shall fail the task that the Eternal Swordsman can accomplish." Martel whispered in a soft tone; her eyes were half closed.

"Damn." Yuan cussed lightly.

The half-elf had secretly hoped he could have stopped the Kharlan War with his own power instead of having to involve Lloyd Irving once more, not that he had a lack of faith in the young man's strength it was actually far from it, Yuan knew he could count on Lloyd if the time ever came and now it seems the world needs him once more. Yuan did fear however if a day would come that he would ask too much of the young man and he would break under the strain of holding the world up on his shoulders. Yuan assumed that Lloyd suffered silently over the years as the two cultures shared a very sensitive and volatile existence and many even blamed the merging of the two worlds that caused such an impacting change in everyone's lives.

"As we speak, the last Desian hope has been confronting the Eternal Swordsman, he is aware that the Eternal Swordsman is his only threat and only grows even more powerful as time passes. Find the Eternal Swordsman; get him ready for the war that cannot happen and put a stop to the last fight of the Desians." Martel spoke softly, her voice continued to echo with every word she spoke while she lowered her hands from her chest to politely fold them over her lap.

"I shall find him as soon as possible." Yuan nodded once.

"Yuan Ka-Fai," Martel spoke out suddenly, stopping the man from turning on his heel to walk away. "Hurry to Luin, by the time you get there, the Eternal Swordsman shall be fighting for his life and you must intervene on his death." Martel informed.

That sent a tingle of dread through his spine as he hid his sudden shock at the news very well, managing to hide his pull of urgency behind calm, almost stone-like, and facial expression. He only gave a nod of acknowledgement before turning on his heel and starting his walk away from the beautiful vision of Martel.

"None can accomplish what the Eternal Swordsman shall be able to do, those that try will perish; however," Martel interjected, making Yuan stop in mid pace as his head turned to glance over his shoulder. "He shall die if he tries to do this alone."

"Understood." Yuan spoke out.

-End of Yuan's tale-

Yuan opened his eyes after telling his tale to the two, his arms shifting under the long cloak that concealed his body; his arms remained folded over his chest while he readjusted himself.

"That's the war you were talking about in the fields." Sheena said, more to herself than directing it at Yuan or Lloyd.

"I never understand you humans and your need to slaughter each other in these petty wars, all your people are trying to do prove is who has the more idiots who are willing to run to their own deaths because they believe they are throwing them away for something greater." Cat sighed out while looking over to the side with a slightly raised chin coupled with the closing of her eyes to show her disposition about the topic.

"Valemeros wants to gain a hold of Martel, why?" Lloyd spoke in a tone that was almost hushed, like he was interrogating his own mind; searching for the answer to the question he that now plagued his mind.

"I was not told why just yet, Lloyd. It could be that the answer is not yet clear to Martel either." Yuan stated while gazing upon Lloyd with analyzing eyes, as if he were silently asking himself on why such a heavy task must once more fall onto the young shoulders of Lloyd. "But what I do know is if this…Valemeros." Yuan gave a slight pause, as if making certain of the name he was hearing; upon hearing no objection from Lloyd and just gaining a graves silence he continued. "is allowed to capture Martel and if he is allowed to soil the roots of the world tree with the blood of war, the World Tree will die and with it will bring an end to this world's supply of mana."

Sheena felt that tingle of dread wash through her body the moment that Yuan stated that phrase; his tone maintaining a deep, grave sound to every word.

"Then we cannot let that happen." Lloyd assured; Sheena could see his hands slowly tense into fists as the new knowledge only added to Lloyd's resolve.

"Maybe you should just attack him now then while he is weakened." Cat shrugged casually with a slightly mocking tone like she was not expecting anyone to be listening to her.

"What do you mean?" Sheena asked suddenly, overhearing the feline speak.

"Well, he got sever miasma burn that injected poison deep into his body. If I remember correctly, neither humans nor elves have been able to create a perfect cure for such concentrated poisoning and those attacks that almost killed your lover there came from Valemeros; that level of mana usage has either killed Valemeros or he has smartened up and taken the proper recovery methods." Cat spoke with a tone that implied she didn't care if Sheena was listening to her or not. The feline's luminous green eyes half opened as she gazed up towards Sheena.

"You saying he is weakened right now?" Sheena asked bewildered.

"Sheena? What are talking about?" a worried tone of Lloyd sounded in the air, gaining the ninja's attention as she instantly flustered.

Sheena looked to the side to see Lloyd's wide, curious stare along with Yuan who was looking over his shoulder in his usual expression that always seemed to be less than amused.

"Ah…I…uh…" Sheena spoke nervously as she suffered the feeling of her tongue suddenly becoming larger in her mouth, choking off her own words. "Was just speaking to…" Sheena instinctively started pointing down towards Cat. The two males looked to where she was pointing before Yuan slightly narrowed his eyes, like he was being taken a fool for. Lloyd only blinked at what he saw and then looked to Sheena with a blank expression of confusion.

"They can't see me, darling." Cat purred in an amused manner.

"I…I know that!" Sheena suddenly called out in an aggressive tone, turning the feline before she realized how that was just making her case even worse.

"Yuan! It is so nice to see you again!" a cheerful voice sounded in the air.

Sheena felt her nerves calm instantly when both the eyes of her observers broke contact from her and looked above to where the voice was coming from. Sheena could not express how grateful she was for the sudden arrival of the golden haired chosen.

The tension in the air was killed almost instantly by the cheer that the chosen brought her when she touched down to her feet and turned to face Yuan, the angelic wings on Colette's back fluttered lightly before they seemed to fade from sight. Colette clasped her hands together as she gave a calming smile, closing her water sapphire eyes.

"How are you, Yuan? Oh I do hope you have not been too lonely at the World Tree." Colette spoke with sincere worry.

"You do not need to worry about me, chosen." Yuan spoke casually; his tone actually eased from their previous grim sounding voice.

"Oh that is right…you have Martel to keep you company. You must be so happy." Colette changed on a dime from worry to cheer for Yuan's fortunes to be with Martel again. Even though the Martel that was at the World Tree was not the Martel he loved back in life but the Martel that people worshiped as a goddess.

'_Well thank Martel for Colette's arrival._' Sheena thought to herself as she glanced over to Cat who was only licking the back of her paw and rubbing it behind her ear. '_How does Cat know if Valemeros is weakened or not?_' Sheena asked herself as she continued to watch Cat clean herself.

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked in a softer tone. His voice was still enough to make Sheena jump out of her daze from staring at Cat as her nerves jolted for a moment and her head turned meet the eyes of the source of the gentle voice. "What were you saying before?" Lloyd asked.

"M-me? I don't know what you are talking about? I have no idea…none at all, not Sheena…nope." Sheena felt herself become flustered as swallowed hard and for a moment it felt like Lloyd's warming eyes became an engulfing interrogating gaze.

"Sheena, we do not have time for this, if you have anything to say then do so." Yuan commented in a stern voice that sounded like he was having his patience tested, different than the tone he used with Colette just moments ago.

"Maybe you should at least tell them about his miasma poisoning." Cat stated casually.

As much as Sheena did not want to risk revealing Cat, being the feline would be very difficult to explain to people who cannot see her, Sheena knew that it might prove to be very vital information and at least her mind was distracted from her previous pains of when Lloyd first woke up and not to mention the moment they just shared. Sheena did not know what to think about it; Lloyd acted like he did before all these hardships and she was given his wide, cheerful smile before Yuan reappeared.

Sheena could only hope that it was her that placed that smile on his face.

"You're right." Sheena whispered under her voice, making sure that none of the trio could hear her. "It might be a good idea to attack Valemeros now then." Sheena voiced out as she folded her arms over her stomach, closing her eyes so she did not have to consciously know that all eyes were on her.

"Now?" Lloyd asked; Sheena heard his feet shuffle in the dirt but she still refused to open her eyes to see what his reaction or movements were.

"Be very reckless to attack without thinking up some plan of attack." Yuan stated in a thoughtful tone; his eyes looked up towards the sky while he ran some thoughts by his head. "We do not even know where he is located. I still need to gather my resources on that."

"I know where fancy pants is 'located'." Cat replied mimicking a polite way of talking.

"He was in Exire." Sheena looked down to Cat by instinct, turning her attention away from the trio.

"But where is Exire now? It is an island that is constantly on the move over the oceans." Cat purred in an amused manner as she gave a small, sly, feline smile.

"Exire?" Colette whispered to herself as she tapped her bottom lip thoughtfully while looking up before giving a smile. "Oh Exire! That place that floats in the skies and as all those half-elves there." Colette let her memory kick in before she gave a sympathictic tilt to her head. "I have always wondered if the people on Exire ever get lonely."

"I am sure they do not get lonely, Exire is a huge place." Yuan worded casually before looking in Sheena's direction again. "Sheena, what do you know?" he confronted.

"Valemeros takes residence in Exire." Sheena spoke softly, her brown eyes leaving Cat to look towards Yuan, Lloyd, and Colette. "Valemeros tried to take Verius out of my body like he did with the other summon spirits; but Verius had a self-defense for that tactic and he surrounded my heart in this type of miasma that burned Valemeros…very bad." Sheena started; she also noticed that when she mentioned that Valemeros tried to take Verius the same way he did with the other summon spirits, Lloyd's hands balled up into fists and the burning intensity she saw flush to the surface of his eyes were dark, consuming…scary. Sheena flinched lightly before looking to Colette who had an expression of worry on her face.

"How can miasma surround your heart and not kill you?" Yuan asked confused.

"I don't know." Sheena desperately stated in a tone of surrender, not ready to try and explain how everything is supposed to make sense. She would have enough problems trying to explain Cat. "You can go ask Verius when he is conscious." Sheena idly commented.

"Conscious?" Yuan furrowed his brows at that statement.

Sheena did not know how to explain what condition Verius was in right now. Verius had become silent ever since he used his power to let her share Lloyd's pain so he would survive the vicious attack from Valemeros and Sheena did remember that Verius said he would need time to recover after forming the temporary bond between Lloyd and her.

"He is tired." Sheena absently explained. "Valemeros suffered a serious infection of miasma and when he was fighting Lloyd he consumed a lot of mana to try and get rid of him." Sheena tried to continue her explanation. "He seemed fine at the time because he probably used some old text cure, but that cure would not help such a severe case of poisoning and it would act more like a suppressant than remove it from his body. Now that he has used so much mana, he has become very unstable and there is a chance he could already have died from his mana separating." Sheena huffed out a breath to regain her composure; her eyes closing as she quickly continued before any questions interrupted. "But that is very unlikely and he is probably recovering slowly, restricted from using anymore mana which means he is at his weakest now than he has ever been…so it might be best if we attack him very soon." Sheena sighed out while her brown eyes half opened again to look at her audience.

"How can you possibility know all this?" Yuan frowned as he leaned towards Sheena very slightly.

"This should be good, trying to explain to them that you are getting all your information from an invisible cat." The black feline purred in amusement.

"How do you know about all this miasma stuff anyways?" Sheena uttered under her breath while shooting a side glance to Cat.

"I guess there is no hiding it; I told Valemeros one thing: I am no guardian of any kind. I am a prisoner in that ring of yours, trapped inside by Maxwell…I used to be a very dangerous and powerful sorcerer of Exire and my power was growing far too great that it threatened the magic barrier that Maxwell used to keep Exire a float and hidden. To save Exire, Maxwell transformed my body…and imprisoned me in the ring. This body limits my powers and the ring restricts my interaction on the world. He had meant to keep my ring hidden from everyone for eternity…but somehow the ring fell into the hands of humans and now here I am. I used to be a resident of Exire, I know where it shall be at any given time in the year and before being sealed…because of my promise, I used to be Maxwell's apprentice." Cat stretched her fore paws in front of her, clawing along the ground as she stretched her back. "You would be surprised with the amount of knowledge you pick up…whether you want to learn it or not." Cat voiced out with half-closed, irritated eyes.

"You told this to Valemeros?" Sheena whispered, forgetting the fact that all attention was on her still.

"I didn't tell that stuck-up man anything about my past. I said I told him one thing, that I was not a guardian." Cat idly commented.

The fact that Cat was telling Sheena such a past about her, a past that did not give the feline the most positive light actually reassured Sheena more than anything. Cat was opening up to her about her own dark past and Sheena was allowed to see through the evasive feline.

"Ummm…Sheena?" Colette asked with a worried tone.

A tingle ran up Sheena's spine as her mind snapped back to reality and reminded her of where she was and who was around her while she whispered to Cat. Sheena slowly turned her head to meeting the perplexed expression of both Colette and Lloyd; Yuan did not show any emotion behind his blank stare as all three sets of eyes were on her.

"Who are you talking to?" Lloyd asked carefully.

"This is going to very hard for me to explain." Sheena sighs out with an uneasy tone.

Somehow the words managed to spill from Sheena's lips as she did her best to explain the existence of Cat, looking at the feline now and against and gesturing towards her by instinct even though her listeners could only ever see an empty space. Through Cat's overly casual mannerism, she gave silent permission for Sheena to tell them about her imprisonment so they could understand everything of where she comes from. Sheena ignored the differences of expression from the trio and rambled on about the tale of the one with the tail.

"How can we even trust something we cannot see or speak to?" Yuan muttered while narrowing his eyes at Sheena.

"Cat sounds so cute…I wish I could see and speak with her." Colette smiled cheerfully as she clasped both her hands together.

"Cute?" Cat responded while arching an eyebrow. It seemed that Cat held herself on such high grounds that the compliment of cute did not register as such to her ears.

Lloyd closed the distance between himself and Sheena as she placed one foot back as if prepared to step away and eying the man that she could swear probably looked like a timid rabbit. Sheena knew that whatever he said could actually make or break her right now and she found herself not caring if Yuan or even Colette believed her…but her eyes locked onto Lloyd's lips…awaiting what he believed.

The seconds ticked by in a tense silence. Every muscle in Sheena's body locked up as she stood up straight and barely any air escaped Sheena's vessel as she felt her head rigidly start to decline. Her salvation came when she felt Lloyd grab her hand which caused Sheena's heart to jump as shifted very slightly in surprise.

"This ring is her prison?" Lloyd asked in a sincere tone, his index and thumb pinched the golden ring with the emerald in the shape of a cat's eye.

"Uh…yeah…I guess." Sheena muttered while she looked down at Lloyd's hand.

"Is there any way to free her?" Lloyd added another question. Sheena looked at Lloyd suddenly with a glance of surprise that he thought of such a thing right now; his brown eyes gazed from the glimmering emerald to meet her eyes. "I don't care why Maxwell imprisoned her…I do not think anyone deserves to be sealed away for eternity."

"Aren't you the altruist?" Cat purred as she walked up and sat beside Sheena's ankle while the feline looked up to Sheena. "I can see why you are so smitten by the idiot." Sheena suddenly felt her twitch of annoyance as she shot a cold glance down Cat. "Lloyd." She causally corrected with a swoosh of her tail, looking towards Yuan. "He does not look like the type to agree however."

"How can I trust something I cannot even see or hear?" Yuan huffed out once; his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Because Sheena would not lie." Colette replied quickly to the defense of her friend as she walked over to look at Sheena. "Sheena is a trustworthy, dear friend to both of us."

A smile quickly accented Sheena's face as she looked to Colette's caring blue eyes and gentle smile that she gave in return to the purple ninja.

"Maybe not." Yuan commented while his eyes came to a close. "But that will not stop someone or something from deceiving her."

Sheena let that register in her mind for a moment. She never thought of the possibility that Cat was lying to her and she did not think the feline would have anything to gain by making up such a story about Valemeros and her knowledge of miasma as well as her connection to Maxwell that led to her imprisoning.

"Give handsome the ring." Cat purred with half opened eyes.

"What?" Sheena blinked in sudden shock as she looked down to the feline.

"You hea—" Cat started before she blinked her eyes. "Meow?" Cat commented in confusion; Sheena was surprised because she had never heard Cat make any typical feline sounds. The source of such a sound was explained while Cat looked up at Colette who was now kneeling beside her and looking down at the black feline. The expression of confusion was clear on Cat's face as both feline and ninja were surprised to see Colette looking at her and seemingly able to see her. Colette reached down in a petting action that caused Cat's fur on her back to spike suddenly before she jumped back out of petting range. "She…she can see me?" Cat stated with wide eyes.

The answer came soon enough as Colette started petting empty air, striking both female companions in a moment of silence before Colette gave a smile and looked up to Sheena.

"She is here right? I noticed your eyes look to where ever she is." Colette smiled cheerfully, such innocence made Sheena sigh out with a smile.

"Actually she jumped out of your reach when you came to close. She is over there now." Sheena gestured behind her with a small smile still on her lips.

"Oh…I'm…I'm sorry, kitty."

"…Cat." The feline corrected with narrowed eyes.

"Why are you sorry?" Lloyd shook his head suddenly while realising Sheena's ring.

"It sounds like I offended her by trying to pet her…I am so so sorry." Colette spoke in a distressed, almost pleading voice.

"And the bimbo is?" Cat blinked while staring at Sheena.

The sudden urge to grab Cat and shake her around violently surfaced in the mind of Sheena when Cat called her a bimbo. When the feline called Lloyd idiot and lover boy was one thing; Sheena called him idiot on a weekly basis. Colette did nothing to deserve such a title from a stranger who did not even know how sweet, kind, and caring the chosen can be.

Sheena closed her eyes in an agitated manner as she grabbed the ring and pulled it off her finger before Cat could make another comment and held it up in front of Lloyd, who could only respond with a curious expression that was completed with wide eyes.

"What?" Lloyd asked; his tone was also shaken and Sheena knew it was because her demeanour changed greatly and she was probably giving off a cold energy.

"Give it to Yuan…he can wear it and he can speak with Cat." Sheena remarked.

"Oh…oh, can I wear it next?" Colette asked cheerfully. "I want to say sorry to her for offending her." Her expression suddenly changed to one of bothered remorse.

"Don't bother, Colette." Sheena stated in a biting tone.

"Fine, I'll take it." Yuan commented in a monotone voice.

Lloyd hesitantly took the ring from Sheena's fingers and the moment she felt its removal she turned on her heel and folded her arms over her stomach.

"You can return it after you are done interrogating." Sheena huffed out while walking away from the group.

"Sheena?" Colette blinked in surprise.

"Sheena wait?" Lloyd called after her.

Sheena did not listen to voices behind her as she jumped down the cliff side and made her way towards Raine's home in the village.

-Later that night-

Sheena let out a sight as she looked to the night skies again, standing on the edge of the beach so she could see the body of water and the jewel in the night skies reflect off the black, rippling surface. A small bundle wrapped in cloth was held to her stomach, two hilts poking out in plain sight.

"Sheena?" called a calm, warm, yet careful tone from behind her.

Naturally, such a tone normally flustered Sheena and made her jump slightly when she was alone and he suddenly came to her; however this time was different as Sheena gently gripped the swords a little more firmly before looking over her shoulder to see Lloyd making his way towards her.

"Lloyd…do you…have a moment?" Sheena asked softly.

"Of course I do, Sheena." Lloyd replied, maintaining his calm tone.

Sheena gestured with her head for Lloyd to come join her before she looked towards the waters again and let out a soft sigh. The sound of Lloyd's footsteps against the ground could be heard over the crashing water against the shore. "So what did Yuan think?" Sheena asked softly.

"He believes her." Lloyd commented.

"Did you…put the ring on?" Sheena asked hesitantly as her mind thought of the mischief that the feline would be able to cause if she was able to speak with Lloyd. That was something that Sheena did not think of before she made her hasty departure.

Silence was the only thing exchanged between the two for a torturous ten seconds that lingered on in Sheena for what seemed to be a life time.

"No." Lloyd finally replied.

The answer surprised Sheena as she suddenly looked over to him only to see the very faint smile that Sheena adored. There were the many smiles of Lloyd Irving and this more subtle smile was her favourite of them all, it was a smile that could often be used when looking at someone of admiration and affection.

Lloyd glanced at the golden ring that Yuan had given back to Lloyd. "You did not say for me to put it on and honestly…I would not have to put it on to prove if Cat exists or not…I believe you Sheena." Lloyd commented in a soft, warm tone before offering the ring back to Sheena. "I trust you…completely."

Sheena was completely taken back by what he said; she always knew that Lloyd had trusted her but actually hearing it in such a meaningful tone made Sheena forget how to breathe for a moment.

"What are those?" Lloyd asked as he gestured towards the wrapped bundle held against Sheena's body. He noticed the bundle because Sheena made no effort to reclaim the ring, having her arms full of the gift she had for Lloyd.

Sheena became acutely aware of her surroundings when Lloyd brought up what was in her arms; her nervousness raised her senses to that other level very briefly as she shivered when she felt the faint chill of the night breeze against her face, the feel of how the cool air felt as it slide through her ebony locks before she turned slowly to face Lloyd with a faint blush accenting her otherwise pale feature—her own skin had betrayed her will to try and keep her composure.

"I…wanted to give these to you Lloyd." Sheena said in a weak whisper. Her timid eyes locked with Lloyd to see his reaction, fearing his reaction even though she knew he would be happy to receive the two swords.

Pocketing the ring for a moment, Lloyd grabbed the bundle from Sheena and looked down at the cloth that wrapped around the articles. Sheena watched as he eyed the hilts suddenly and then looked back to her with a bewildered expression for a moment which Sheena could only respond with a weak smile.

"Swords?" Lloyd asked bewildered.

"They…they are the finest craft from Mizuho; I had my father make them for you—I mean, well your other swords broke right?" Sheena nervously tried to explain as if she were trying to cover her own tracks from embarrassment of revealing too much. "So I thought you would like…well I mean, that is that you could use them—until you get your other swords back of course—you don't **have** to use them." Sheena was trying hard not to trip over her own words or make it sound like it mattered to her if he liked it or not, even though she knew if he did not like them that it would shatter her completely. Nervously, the purple ninja fiddled with her own fingers behind her back as she breathed slowly in anticipation.

She could only watch helplessly as Lloyd slide the cloth covering away from the sheaths of the new weapons, smoothly polished sheaths of beauty that had matching colors to the fabric that was wrapped around the hilts, a purple sheath that was almost a spot on shade to what Sheena wore and a strikingly passionate red that was close to the shade of which Lloyd wore, if only just a few shades darker. Sheena felt her fingers grip each other almost painfully as her heart stilled for just a couple of beats while her eyes locked on Lloyd's own as she watched them move up and down the length of the swords. Her breath was allowed a merciful escape as she saw him give a smile before he slide each sheath into their respective spots on his leather belt. Lloyd crossed his arms over his body as each hand grabbed the hilts of the newfound swords and she watched his fingers tighten before he stopped instantly.

"May I?" Lloyd asked almost too innocently as Sheena looked up from his hands to look into Lloyd's honest face as he was asking her if he may do the honors of drawing them for the first time, here and now.

"Please." Sheena responded. One word response was what she was reduced to.

The sound of steel against the metal ring at the opening of the sheath filled the air as Lloyd slowly pulled the swords free from their containment. Sheena's eyes sparkled with happiness and awe as she watched the fresh blades reflect in the brilliant beauty of the moon light. The engravings on the blades stood out more than before as they caught the perfect angle of light. Sheena could only find herself with a happy smile as she watched with a pride as he raised both swords high; predicting his next movements; Sheena stepped back and sure enough Lloyd took the new space between them to slash the swords through the empty, crisp night air. The sound of the swords cutting the air made Sheena strangely excited as she watched him practice with the newly forged swords.

"They…they are perfect in weight." Lloyd uttered in surprise as he looked at the slightly curved blades, a cross between his old swords and Mizuho katana style curve. "What are these?" he asked when he was admiring the forge and noticed the engravings.

"Wh—what do you mean?" Sheena asked nervously as if her asking that question would save her an embarrassing explanation.

"These." He responded while stepped closer to Sheena to show her what she knew was already etched into the swords surface near the hilts, running one quarter up the length of both of the blades.

"Oh! You mean those!" Sheena laughed nervously while she brought a hand up to her blushing cheek, like holding her hand there would make him ignore the fact that her face was slowly being conquered by the red invasion of her surfacing blood. "Ah ha…ha…ha." Trying to buy herself time from explaining what they both said.

"Lloyd, I'm sorry to be so bothersome." The lilting tone from the golden haired chosen sang through the air at a distance.

Sheena glanced towards the water to hide her blush from Colette; the appearance of the chosen was a bitter-sweet experience for Sheena as she was hoping to share this moment with Lloyd together, just him and her. Sheena had almost lost Lloyd and her memory was forever burned with how much blood of his was covering her and now she had him alone while they recovered and again it was cut short. Her courage crumbled in that instant as she was reduced to just being able to observe the events around her now.

"Colette, you goof…you're not a bother." Lloyd laughed lightly while Sheena heard the ground shift as she knew Lloyd was turning to face her and those sounds being accompanied by the footsteps of the chosen as she advanced closer towards the both of them.

"I just…couldn't sleep knowing that you will be fighting the man who hurt you so much." Colette voiced in a tone filled with worry. Sheena knew that tone would be completed by her pleading blue eyes that could shake the resolve of the coldest heart.

"I have to do this, Colette." He replied.

"Why? Why is it always you Lloyd?" Colette surprisingly objected, normally she would be all for Lloyd to go out and fight for the world; but it seemed that this time, something was shaking Colette so much that even she succumbed to the fear of defeat.

"Because no one else can." Lloyd tried to explain to the shaken young woman.

The sound of Lloyd's new swords were heard slipping back into their sheath before the resounding clip of the hilt tapping against the metal opening finalized the action.

"But…but…I don't want to…lose you." Colette whispered in sorrow.

When Sheena heard that she snapped her gaze from the waters to look over to Colette as Lloyd walked closer to her. The pale-skinned chosen had her head lowered and she could easily tell the gentle woman was crying in fear of losing Lloyd.

"You won't lose me…" Lloyd whispered back in a reassuring voice that was also filled with an unsaid promise.

Sheena could only gaze to the side as she saw Lloyd take the tearful Colette in his arms and he held her close in a meaningful embrace. It was a startling stab for Sheena to watch as she closed her eyes for a moment…a solemn calm washed over Sheena as she breathed out once and then opened her eyes to look towards the two.

Sheena walked towards the two before placing her hand on Colette's shoulder, sliding her hand down her back to gently rub the worried woman's back. Her hand unintentionally brushed against Lloyd's hand that had wrapped around Colette and for some reason that made Sheena stir slightly as if she had made a mistake and looked over to see Lloyd's eyes open to look at her. The look in his deep, brown eyes was a look she had not seen before and so she did not understand what he was trying to say without words. Sheena half closed her eyes again as she looked to the side, away from Lloyd and gave a subtle nod.

Perhaps it was a moment he wished to be alone with Colette and Sheena had to be understanding and compassionate towards Lloyd's feelings and Colette's worry. Turning on her heel; Sheena silently walked away from the two…she could feel Lloyd's eyes still on her the entire time she was walking away.

She only wished she knew why.


	30. The strength of resolve

Chapter 30

_Note: Allow me to take this one moment here to personally thank two readers who have constantly replied with their support of my story through their comments and let their efforts be recognized by this reader. Thank you Maurice A. Nigma and Vandenbz for your support and I would like to take this moment to thank another in particular: Houki, for her loyalty and support as she enjoys ever chapter as well._

"With the knowledge we have, we can launch an attack against this Valemeros as soon as two weeks; one at the very earliest if we rush our plans and formations." Yuan spoke calmly towards Lloyd as the red swordsman gave a slight frown.

"It might be too late by then, Yuan." Lloyd breathed out somewhat impatiently.

"It might be; however Cat said that the miasma could strip his powers away for weeks, months and it could possibly take years. Although I do not believe that our luck would be so fortunate." Yuan confessed on the latter of the possibilities.

"Exactly, we may not even have the two weeks to spare." Lloyd confronted as he felt his teeth press together before feeling Colette lay her hand gently on his shoulder to try and reassure him. "Sheena and I have fought Valemeros even before he gained the power from the summon spirits…together we were able to fight him off and now that he has no spells we both can overpower Valemeros." Lloyd said in hasty eagerness with a firm determination easily noted in the tone of his voice while he raised a hand up and balled it into a fist.

"No Lloyd, we cannot risk it just yet…a week has passed since you have been unconscious; for all you know he could have recovered by now. We need to take the precaution and assemble your comrades…as well as my own. We have to be ready for the worst case scenario." Yuan confronted with a slight narrow to his eyes.

A moment of silence passed between the two before Lloyd let out a light grunt of impatience and turned around to walk off, walking passed the silent Colette.

The only thing that Lloyd knew was that he had to get out of there and he had to relax and take a moment to breath.

"Lloyd!" Yuan called out suddenly, making Lloyd turn around as he caught the flash of the moon reflecting off an object that only came closer to him. Lloyd caught the object and then looked into the palm of his hand while his eyes focused on the golden loop that now rested in his hand…it was Sheena's ring. "Do not do anything rash…remember what Martel stated, you will die if you try and do this alone, Lloyd." Yuan reminded before he turned and started to walk away, the darkness of the night consumed his form in seconds.

Lloyd's eyes opened while he relived the moment between Yuan and himself; Lloyd could not get over the fact that Yuan stated that he would die if he tried to confront Valemeros alone…that only meant that once more he must put his friends in danger, those he cared for more than anything and those he fought for so they could have a peaceful future.

The sound of Lloyd's leather gloves rubbing against the lace fabric wrapped around the hilt of his new swords filled the air, each time his finger slide up the length of the hilt made the rough sound become louder and clearer to Lloyd's ears. The Eternal Swordsman could not help but think about his wish: how he wished he was stronger so his friends did not have to throw themselves into danger and risk their lives yet again.

"Whenever you go off alone and start thinking…it always worries me, Lloyd." Sounded calm, collected and yet subtly worried tone from Professor Raine.

"Oh…Professor." Lloyd commented in a solemn manner, glancing over his shoulder with a stone like expression on his face. "I was just…" Lloyd started before his voice faded off while his brown eyes glanced to the starry skies.

"Thinking…I know." She replied, maintaining her calm voice. "Yuan told Genius and me everything, the moment he told us the story…my mind instantly thought about you." Raine stated while folding her arms across her chest, standing beside Lloyd while her gray eyes looked up to the skies as well. "I thought about how deeply you are thinking into this…how much you are thinking about us." Raine commented while her eyes closed completely as if she was at peace. "Yes Lloyd, you are that predictable." Raine gave a very faint smile, answering the question even before it was asked.

Lloyd could not help but be amazed with the professor; sometimes they conflicted due to how logical she can be at times; however, since their journey four years ago she had changed and she had become more understanding, dare he say, even more compassionate and able to express it since their journey two years ago and this Raine that he found himself speaking was a Raine he could relate the best to as he looked over to her to see her eyes closed, a faint smile cornering her lips. The glimmer of the moon caught a glassy surface that gained Lloyd's attention. He was not yet ready for the sight that he saw, an exsphere on Raine's hand once more, it glimmered like a polished gem in the moonlight as Lloyd bit his bottom lip for a moment.

"So you are coming then?" Lloyd commented, not asking about the exsphere directly but more asking on Raine's plan of action. Lloyd knew she would catch onto him in seconds anyways; Raine was a very smart and keen young woman.

"Yes, I am." Raine stated in an unchanged tone. "And before you say it or feel any guilt for 'dragging' your friends into danger again. I choose this Lloyd…I wanted to come with you again the moment you brought Sheena into our village. I would be lying if I said I realized it just then…I have wanted to re-join your journey for a long while…so you cannot blame yourself." Lloyd could only keep his eyes on Raine as her eyes half opened and her head turned to face him. "This fight concerns us all and I will not let you try and take that away from me…from Genis…from anyone. You carry the burden of worrying about us and by trying to keep us out of danger; you add the burden onto your friends as we worry about you…we all care about your Lloyd. You cannot always protect us from everything…the time will come when we have to fight to protect ourselves." Raine smiled lightly.

Lloyd did not know what to say at first; his lips parted to speak but no words could find their way out. Lloyd could only give a sigh of defeat after a few tense moments between the two of them as he shook his head once. "I don't like to admit it professor, but I understand…had the roles been reversed I would not be able to stand just sitting on the side while my friends fight."

"Then stop adding our weight to what you already carry…let's work together, one more time and remove the weight on your shoulders for good…all of it." Raine nodded.

"I also worry for Colette; I do not think she is ready for this." Lloyd muttered in worry over his closest friend; knowing how caring, gentle-hearted, and good-natured she is.

"Let her decide that, Lloyd." Raine replied back casually. "Do you worry about Sheena?" Raine asked while she cocked an eyebrow.

"What? Of course I do…I worry about her a lot; but I also know she is very capable of defending herself." Lloyd admitted as he lightly gripped the hilts.

"Are you sure about that, Lloyd?" Raine asked while she stared forward again, her eyes coming to a close when the words came from her lips.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd blinked as he found his brown eyes locked on Raine intently, waiting for an answer.

"It would not hurt for you to tell her that you worry for her…is all I am saying." Raine responded before she turned around and started to walk away from Lloyd, leaving him in the dark…but not without one last statement. "Woman are complicated beings, Lloyd. Sometimes we, as woman, just need to hear something for it to make all the difference than depend on assumptions."

Lloyd blinked once as he watched Raine disappear into the village of Iselia once again, leaving Lloyd to the darkness of the night before he turned around again and looked towards the starry skies. Secretly in his mind he had hoped that the stars would spell out some answer to his unasked question he was turning to the cosmos for.

-Next day-

Lloyd avoided spending too much time in Iselia, feeling the tension of his presence like a crippling weight on his back that caused his muscles to become knotted and sore. Lloyd spent his days sitting on the cliff side where he had met Sheena the night before. He watched the everyday life of Iselia pass him by and could not help but remember that that used to be how his life was…passing by day by day; his only worry was to survive, live, and be himself.

'_You will die if you try to do this alone, Lloyd._' Yuan's voice echoed in Lloyd's head.

'_Do you worry about Sheena?_' Raine's echoed reminder followed shortly after. '_Are you sure about that, Lloyd?_' the follow-up question echoed as Lloyd felt his hands grip around the hilts of his swords.

'_I also worry for Colette; I do not think she is ready for this._' Lloyd's own voice rang inside his head.

'_Let her decide that, Lloyd._' Echoed the reply from Raine.

'_This fight concerns us all and I will not let you try and take that away from me…from Genis…from anyone._' Raine spoke inside his head. '_From anyone._' The phrase rang in his head over and over again.

Everyone's lives would be at danger once again and not only Raine, Genis, and Colette…but Sheena would be put in danger as well. Lloyd felt his muscles tense for a moment as his eyes closed tight while the muscles in his jaw locked in place.

'_You will die if you try to do this alone, Lloyd._' Rang in his head as he felt his muscles become so unbearably tense.

"No…I won't." Lloyd suddenly spoke out in a determined tone as he pushed himself to stand. Lloyd's brown eyes opened as he looked down to the village again and there he managed to spot Raine, Colette, and Genis walking to the front of the village where they met with Zelos and Regal, the entire party was coming together again for this final confrontation and Lloyd could not help but let a feeling of dread of their possible demise fill his mind. His brown eyes wandered over the buildings of the village until he managed to spot Sheena sitting peacefully on the top of one of the houses with her legs hugged to her chest and her chin resting on her knees. Yuan had left late last night to gather his remaining renegades for the final campaign. "I can do this…without anyone having to risk their lives." Lloyd reassured himself as he looked towards the skies. "Valemeros…I can beat you myself." His hands balled into tight fists while he pressed his teeth together. "But where is Exire now…how do I find out before anyone else…can?" Lloyd stalled for a moment as he blinked once and then looked down to his pants. Lloyd's hand slide into his pocket and pulled out an elegant, golden ring. He let the ring roll into the palm of his hands as he stared at it for a few moments.

The moment that Lloyd spent staring at the ring was almost surreal, like the ring was slowly tempting and corrupting Lloyd for that moment…urging him to place the ring on his hand and find out the answers that he was seeking. With a mouth, dried by anticipation, Lloyd removed the red glove on his hand and slowly slipped the finger on. It was a snug fit but it was now on him.

There was no surge of magic; there was no bright flash, no eerie wind or even a warm feeling that was experienced as he looked at the ring at first and then his brown eyes searched his surroundings to try and spot the feline that Sheena had spoken of and Yuan had claimed to converse with. There was nothing in his immediate eyesight as he let out a discontent sigh.

"Being passed around so much has a way of making you feel very cheap." Sounded a smooth, endearing voice right in front of Lloyd as his eyes widened and he stared forward to lock eyes with the creature that looked at him with a curious gleam in her own eyes.

"Cat?" Lloyd asked.

"Idiot?" Cat mocked playfully with a tilt to her head.

"I need some answers…" Lloyd stated with an eerie calm to his tone.

"Everyone has been requiring answers lately." Cat commented casually while she lifted her head in a cross between proud and defiant manner; her tail wiggled lightly behind her in the air to show her own pleasure in the fact. "Lucky for you, dense boy…I am in an answering mood." Cat completed while she looked at Lloyd with one eye, a glitter of amusement in her eye. "Buuuutt…I have one condition." Cat purred.

"Condition? What condition?" Lloyd asked.

Cat could only give a sly grin that revealed her feline fangs.

-Later that night-

Lloyd had avoided contact with everyone that day leading into the night and even then he avoided being spotted as he slowly jumped from rock to rock down the cliff. He held the ring in a tight grasp in his hand while he finally touched down to the bottom of the cliff, landing in a kneel before silently, yet casually, walking through Iselia towards Raine's house.

The light on at the school gave away that Raine was spending another late night with her eyes glued to a text book; she was probably trying to learn something that would give the party any form of edge in the battle to come. The only thing that Lloyd found comfort in was that he would not have to deal with the risk of running into her when he entered Raine's house. He remembered the many nights he bumped into her at the inns the stayed in over their journey. Lloyd remembered how he once wondered if she even slept at all.

Placing his hand on the door, Lloyd gently pushed the door open and peeked his head inside to see Sheena and Colette fast asleep. It would be a safe bet that Genis, Regal, and Zelos were staying over at the house that once belong to Colette as to make the comfortable separation between the men and the ladies. Slipping into the room, Lloyd walked up to where Sheena was sleeping and carefully kneeled beside her bed as he looked at her peaceful expression as the ninja slept…an elegant pale beauty whose skin was giving off an enchanting allure to it under the dim lamplight. Lloyd reached over and gently grabbed Sheena's hand, leaning in close he whispers to her sleeping form.

"I'll come back…I promise."

Lloyd slipped the golden ring into Sheena's hand before giving her fingers a gentle pat that caused her to close her hands around the ring.

'_A deal is a deal, Cat…I returned you to Sheena before leaving._' Lloyd said in his mind before he took one last look at Sheena, as if mentally accepting that he may not see her for a while. Lloyd gently placed his hand on her ebony locks and very carefully pressed his hand into her head to caress her hair before turning around to walk out of the hut and silently close the door behind him.

Now that Lloyd knew what he was doing and he had come to terms with the idea of leaving a certain purple dressed female behind, the night had become noticeably colder; the wind held more bite and the moisture of the ground seemed to be that much more apparent. Resting his hands on the hilts of his swords; Lloyd looked towards the skies and started to make his way towards the outskirts of the tone. It was there that he spotted the Rheaird that was used to transport him here. It was a different model than the one Sheena and he had used over the two years.

Lloyd took one last glance to Iselia before stepping up to the Rheaird and placing his feet in the familiar spots when he would pilot the older model; his fingers slowly lacing around the handles of the flying machine before let out a disheartened breath at first before burying it behind the determination he felt and his will he had mustered to stop Valemeros and end this in one final battle…a battle a top Exire where the fate of the world would hang in the balance.

The Rheaird purred to life in a gentle hum as Lloyd only tightened his grip on the handles of the flying machine. Lloyd's brown eyes cast towards the sky as he gave one deep swallow of determination before his eyes narrowed for a moment.

"I'm coming, Valemeros." Lloyd muttered in a low growl.

Lloyd felt his body become weightless as the machine slowly hovered up into the night sky.

"Lloyd!" a voice called out from below.

A tingle ran up the young man's spine as he jolted up straight while his eyes widened for a moment and he looked down towards the ground to see Sheena running out of Iselia. Something jerked inside Lloyd's chest as his eyes half closed; seeing Sheena run after him…it pained him more then he realized.

"Lloyd wait!" Sheena pleaded.

'_Sheena…I'm sorry, I…I don't want you to get hurt…I don't want anyone to get hurt._' Lloyd thought to himself as his eyes remained half closed while the feeling of sorrow washed over him for a moment as he looked forward again. '_This is something I have to do_.' Lloyd thought bitterly while he prepared to shift the Rheaird to shoot for the skies at incredible speed.

However, Lloyd was not granted the ability to do so as he felt the Rheaird shift with sudden weight that made him hold his breath for a moment. The Rheaird was already hovering high in the air, there was no way that Sheena would be able to jump that high. Lloyd twisted his head to the side so he could look over his shoulder and yet he saw nothing, which gave him a mild reassurance.

The weight shifted again and right before Lloyd's eyes he saw Sheena flip from the bottom of the Rheaird to land right behind him. She must have managed to grab onto the bottom of the machine and used her uncanny agility to flip herself up.

"She-Sheena?" Lloyd exclaimed.

Sheena huffed in and out from running after his Rheaird, the glare she gave him almost made Lloyd wish he was dead because that was exactly the look he was getting…like she would kill him herself for ignoring her cries out to him and trying to leave her behind. Lloyd had to make his stand however; he had no wish to lose Sheena.

"Sheena…I have to do this...alone." Lloyd stated flatly. The woman did not reply as he watched her head lower and the once glaring eyes were now concealed by the shroud of night and the shading her ebony bangs gave. "I don't want you to risk your—" Lloyd stated while he noticed her arms tremble for a moment before she cut him off with a movement that was quicker than his eyes could ever register. The one thing that did register however was that his head was forced to the side and a tingling pain rippled along his cheek…the cold wind made the tingles evolve into biting razors. "Ah." Lloyd could only respond as he brought a hand to his cheek, the Rheaird was brought to a stop as it only hovered in the air.

"You are a fool, Lloyd Irving, a fool and an idiot!" Sheena screamed suddenly as she brought her head back up so her emotionally charged eyes locked completely onto his. "Don't you try protecting me now…you think I would want to wake up in the morning and see that you're not…that you're not there?" Lloyd held his breath for a moment; he watched as she stalled and then repeated her words while tears slowly filled up the bottoms of her eyes. "Did you ever think of what that would do to me? How much it tore me up to sit by your bed while you recovered and know that I could not do anything? It was awful Lloyd…and leaving me behind would only be worse…I don't care that you are trying to keep me safe…Lloyd, let me make that choice." Sheena pleaded while she balled her hands into fists but not because she wished to strike Lloyd, that feeling Lloyd had felt wash away from Sheena in seconds. "The only reason you would want to protect me from battle is because you are not certain you can succeed." Sheena's tone of voice had started to lose its strength; her voice battled the tremble that that provoked by her held back tears. "I don't want to wake up only to have lost you forever."

Sheena's words were powerful on Lloyd as he lowered his head, unable to meet her gaze anymore while her words assaulted his resolve. Lloyd had commented that Sheena was a powerful woman and sometimes she did not understand completely what he meant…now she was only proving his point even more on how much she will fight for what she believes in.

"What…is your choice?" Lloyd submitted.

The red swordsman had always fought for what he believed with little thought of his own sacrifices he made or the dangers he attracted to himself; so even he knew that he had no right stopping Sheena from doing the same.

"I want to come with you." Sheena bravely confessed while Lloyd turned his head to look forward again.

Hearing those words from her did not sound as grave as Lloyd first though it would, it actually gave him a relief to hear her say it herself that she wished to stay by his side even though this could very well be the last fight that the both of them will have together, that there was the possibility that one of them could die.

"Then let's go…together." Lloyd uttered out while he kept his eyes forward.

No reply came from his female companion's lips; the only answer that came were the arms that slide around his body as Sheena held onto him from behind in preparation of the speed that Lloyd would reach while flying the Rheaird.

With a small purr from the engine, the jets of the machine blasted to life and the mana consuming device tore through the air in an effortless glide.

"Lloyd…promise me something here and now." Sheena managed to speak into Lloyd's ear, making sure her voice could be heard over the winds. Lloyd could only nod his head in reply and he knew Sheena would be watching his reactions and sure enough she continued to speak. "Promise me…you won't ever leave me behind again."

Sheena's request made Lloyd forget to breathe for a moment as the choice of wording for some reason sounded more meaningful than she was probably intending for it to sound. Lloyd for a moment as he let those words dance over his consciousness.

"Promise me, Lloyd…please." Sheena actually pleaded with him.

Lloyd replied to her the only way he knew how when they were at this type of speed. Lloyd released the handle of the Rheaird and then placed his hand on her forearm and giving a gentle squeeze for his answer: yes.

"Thank you." Sheena whispered softly into his ear; her lips were close enough to his ear that he could hear it perfectly over the gusting winds, he could swear he almost felt her lips touch against ear as he breathed out with a soft sigh.

That promise he made to Sheena was a complex feeling, when he should be worrying about her well-being at her reckless request to be taken anywhere, no matter the danger, was not the feeling he got. What he felt was a strange sense of relief and from that he found himself actually feeling stronger, like he would win this battle with Valemeros no matter what happened now…he felt a spiking increase in his resolve as his eyes focused ahead of him, their destination: Exire.

'_If I cannot protect you from the battles to come…then I shall protect you in the battles to come, Sheena…I promise._' Lloyd thought to himself as he slowly released her forearm to grip the Rheaird once more.


	31. The Sacrifice

Chapter 31

_Note: Sorry everything took so long for chapter 31, between the school project and my Valentine's Day Bleach short story I have been very busy between University and recovering from a recent head cold. But I have not forgotten my loyal Tales fans. Thank you all for the patience and without further delay…chapter 31._

Sheena gripped tight to Lloyd's waist as she buried her face into his back and held her breath for a moment, the moment they shared was taking its emotional toll on her as she shut her eyes. Lloyd had almost left…left without her. It hurt on a level that he tried to leave without her; but there was a part of her that knew exactly why he did it. Lloyd had a wish to protect and that meant so much to her to know…to have someone in her life to protect her from the darkness that life would try and cloud over her, he would be her light.

"Sheena? Are you alright?" Sheena managed to hear Lloyd whisper to her through the slicing wind chill they raced through.

The shifting of Lloyd's body allowed her mind to focus on the situation once more as she felt her hands gently ease from his chest; her fingers were digging into his body without her even knowing she was doing such a thing as she only replied with nodding against her back.

"There!" Lloyd screamed above the roaring winds.

Sheena felt her heart skip as she opened her eyes and lifted her head to peer over his shoulder and there it floating, the travelling city of Exire…the last stronghold that Valemeros was hidden in while her recovered from the miasma poisoning. Sheena gave a swallow as she forced her right arm from Lloyd's chest to point in a direction, placing her lips dangerously close to Lloyd's ear again as she whispered softly so he could hear her.

"There…the mansion that is floating above Exire…completely separated from the rest of the floating city that is where Valemeros is." Sheena commented as Lloyd gave a nod and she felt the rheaird only pick up speed as it zipped overhead.

With scanning eyes, Sheena looked down at the manor…only to have her heart freeze in place as her keen eyes managed to pick up the sight of Valemeros. It was like time suddenly stopped for those brief seconds as she felt a heavy weight on her heart when those noble eyes looked up to them and seemingly locked onto her own. With just his eyes, he shattered some of her courage.

It occurred to the purple ninja that it would not have been too hard to spot them flying by the manor on a rheaird that had burning jets and probably raced across the sky like a shooting star. They were a good distance up and the night had dominated the sky so strongly that Sheena knew Valemeros could possibly know that the both of them are the ones on the rheaird…but it shook her faith and confidence nonetheless.

"Sheena…take control." Lloyd called out over the biting, high altitude winds.

Sheena slowly slipped her arms from around Lloyd and gently patted his back to signal she was ready for the transfer. The both of them had switched spots on the same rheaird quite a few times over the years and for Sheena it was all one graceful move as she felt Lloyd lean back, shifting on his seat. Sheena responded by putting her left leg onto the seat and then pushing off the surface while her right foot hit the right wing of the rheaird and she kicked off it, effectively switching spots with Lloyd as he slid back on the seat. Lloyd's firm, protective hands held onto her waist as he steadied and positioned her on spot. Grabbing the handles, Sheena let out a calming breath to pass through the moment of adrenaline that was briefly pumping through her body from the moment of danger. Now it was Lloyd's whisper that haunted her ears as he leaned in close to speak to her.

"Fly us by the manor again…but take us closer." Lloyd whispered with a firm, determined energy in his otherwise husky whisper.

Sheena only gave a nod as she gripped the handles of the rheaird and yanked back on the handles, forcing the rheaird to take a sharp turn while pressing her palms into the solid frame that forced the machine to start its rapid descent.

The feeling of Lloyd's leather gloves sliding against the fabric of her tunic along her back made Sheena glance over her shoulder to see Lloyd resting his hands on her shoulders and rising slightly from the seat.

"L…Lloyd what are you doing?" Sheena called out; however the red swordsman could not hear her call through the gusts of wind that was caused from their altitude drop.

Before Sheena could react she was forced to watch Lloyd leap off the rheaird as he let gravity transport him down to the manor below. The reckless action caused Sheena's heart to thump wildly in her chest as she passed by the manor and she could swear she almost yanked the handles off the rheaird to perform a sharp turn; the sight that awaited her would be something she was not prepared to see as her eyes widened for a moment.

Valemeros was a distance away from Lloyd but on the ground and slammed up against the stone railing that surrounded the entire rooftop. Lloyd had just sent Valemeros flying to the ground and now the noble could only stare at Lloyd with bewildered eyes while he tried to push himself back to his feet, his left hand clawing at the stone-crafted barrier.

'_We can do this._' Sheena thought to herself as she bit her lip.

Figures emerged from behind Lloyd, popping up from the staircase opening that led down into the manor. Cecil and Monique had a shocking response time as they both stared in shock for a moment before they took charge at Lloyd. Sheena felt a growl rumble in her throat as she zipped through the air on the rheaird and jumping off the seat herself, ignoring the damage the rheaird may suffer from crashing to the stonework of the rooftops surface. Sheena's feet touched to the ground as she felt all the force of the land overwhelm her body for a moment and she instinctively let the force throw her body forward as she rolled gracefully along the hard stone and popped back to her feet, using the speed of her land to give her the extra boost to her step as she dashed towards the two noble protectors.

Cecil and Monique's charge halted the moment that Sheena touched down on the stony surface. Sheena slid her hand into her purple tunic as she touched her fingers to the master seals concealed underneath the cloth and pulled out two seals, one that suddenly took the color of crimson and the other turned to the shade of yellow. Springing from foot to foot, Sheena gracefully bounced from side to side before tossing both the seals to the ground just 3 paces away from her location. The seals shimmered before the crimson seal exploded, tearing the stone and kicking up dust before the yellow seal burst in light and broke the air around the crumbling stone to create a sonic burst that impacted the ears of her targets.

The grainy dust parted when Sheena leapt into the smokescreen and her eyes locked on the two figured as she emerged from concealment and watched as Cecil lowered his forearm from his face when he shielded himself from the smoke and Monique had turned her head and coughed into her fingers, both turning too late as Sheena landed in front of Cecil and her leg flashed up with blinding speed to kick Cecil's sword hand, causing the man's arm to fling to the side as the sword was thrown across the ground and a pained grunt escaped his lips before Sheena landed on her foot and continued her momentum kicking with the other leg as it found a home on the side of Cecil's head, just below his helmet as his body weight was sent straight to the ground with a dull thud against the stone. Sheena twisted her mid body so she was no longer facing Cecil and turned her sight onto Monique. The mage's hand lowered from her lips as her head turned just in time to see Cecil fall and her eyes widened in bewilderment when she saw Sheena twisting around to face the woman and her reaction was to lift her middle and index finger as her lips moved quickly to chant a spell but the short distance between her and Sheena was quickly covered as Sheena pulled out a green seal, holding it between her index and middle finger she let the piece of enchanted paper be engulfed in a green flame like energy as she landed right in front of Monique and let the seal burst to life as the Cyclone seal withered from her fingers and a sudden burst of energy seals cyclone from the ground at Monique's feet and actually tossed the mage into the air before Sheena's keen eyes followed her movements and Sheena performed a back flip, kicking Monique while she airborne as the sound of Monique's pained gasp was heard before the mage went crashing to the ground.

The battle was not over yet as Sheena twisted her head to the side when she heard the sound of military grade boots against the smooth stone surface and she responded by turning around to face the threat that belonged to them: Cecil. The aggressive sword fighter charged at her as Sheena pulled out a seal and crossed both her index and middle fingers across the back of the seal as the enchanted gave a glow while the seals started to multiple to form a protective wall between Sheena and her attacker. The mana thickened in the air for a moment as Sheena knew it belonged to someone casting a spell and instantly her eyes shot over to look to Monique but she was still recovering to a kneel.

"From the fiery depths of the most intense volcano," Cecil called from the other side of the seals.

"What?" Sheena called out in wide-eyed surprise.

"Explosion!" Cecil completed.

The ground at Sheena's feet began to glow as the heat quickly started to seep through the fabric and into Sheena's foot, telling her to move quickly; she responded with a graceful back flip as she touched one hand to the ground and pushed off with as much force as she could muster to gain as much distance as possible from the area affected by the magical attack. Fire showered down from the skies in the area where she was standing as her seals burned to cinders, lost within the brief wall of fire as Sheen covered her eyes from the amount of debris flying through the air from the violent explosion.

'He can use spells just like Zelos can.' Sheena though bitterly. 'Why didn't he use spells in the previous fights?'

Cecil dropped from the skies while the brimstone was still fresh in the air, emerging from the flames as he crashed to the ground and gave Sheena no window of recovery as her noticed the man a moment too late.

"Burning Havoc!" Cecil yelled from above as Sheena held her breath for a moment. She had not heard of such an attack before.

Cecil crashed to the ground feet first as his knees bent to pad his landing; a trail of fire followed him like a energy tail before the energy seemed to transfer into the ground right in front of Sheena as the fire created another wall of melting heat that pushed Sheena back like she had been clobbered by an ogre and her tunic developed a few charred black patches before she hit the ground and rolled along the stone surface by the force of the blast that Cecil commanded.

Sheena slammed her palm into the ground to counter the force that had tossed her along the ground like a beaten ragdoll; bouncing to a kneel, Sheena brought a hand to her wipe her forehead only to look at the back of her hand and noticing blood already.

"Heh, not bad…not bad at all," Sheena growled out with a slight smirk.

Cecil slowly rose to stand up straight as he looked at Sheena with such a hatred that Sheena was actually thrown back by such an intense glare and she understood from that intensity alone on why he saved using his artes until now.

'_It's because Valemeros is mortal danger…even with his own life in danger he did not care to use these attacks…but now that Valemeros is_—" Sheena looked to the side to try and see how Lloyd was doing but the flash of bright radiance on her other side caught her attack.

"Ray!" Monique's voice rose to the heavens.

Sheena narrowed her eyes as she looked skywards to see the clouds break in light and a rain of light focused on the area around her broke from the darkness as the light pummeled the ground around her. Sheena got to her feet as she dodged the oncoming assault while catching the movement beyond the cage of lights; Cecil was running towards her before placing his sword across his chest and mana collected around the man once more.

'_He's going to try and snare me with a spell to capture me in the storm of Ray._' Sheena thought bitterly before she danced from foot to foot backwards, dodging the shower of lights while making distance between her and Cecil.

"Like the beast from roars, shall it be my blade of fury." Cecil voiced to himself; Sheena did not know what type of spell incantation that was but she also knew various mages had their own incantations. "Thunder Blade!"

A moment of fear washed through her body because she knew what that spell was and she knew what he would be trying. He would try to stab the sword of lightning in the flurry of bright lights while both spells would punish her and Sheena knew her chance of survival from such a combination would drastically decrease as she added a desperate speed to her bounds.

Sheena managed to escape the prison of light with one final leap backwards before her eyes looked above to see the sword constructed of lightning slice through the air and actually shot through the Ray to zip just a foot over Sheena's head as her heart skipped a beat and her head turned to try and follow where it was landing. Cecil was not targeting to trap her in Ray; he was predicting her movements and shot Thunder Blade to where he would logically land. The sword stabbed into the ground before flickering once to show it become unstable and Sheena was a slave to gravity as she continued to land from her backward bound and she knew she would touch ground right as the sword would surge out the electric energy. Sheena touched to the ground and let her knees bend so she could try one futile effort to leap away from the blade as it exploded.

The lightning crawled along the ground before arching up to wrap around Sheena's body and the moment that happened she felt her eyes shut tight and her mouth opened for a soundless scream of agony as the electric current felt like it would seep into her muscles and melt them to her bones. Sheena collapsed to her hands and knees as she battled the world of blackness.

"Holy…Lance." Monique stated with a tone of finalization.

Sheena cracked open her eyes as the ground came to life in a runic circle of light as she slowly raised her head just in time to see four javelin-like rods of light rise from the circle before the spin around once to get into impaling position in the air.

The Lances shot down at the ninja as she closed her eyes; too restrained from the shackles of lightning still coursing through her body to evade the blow.

Sheena felt a dull thump as her eyes cracked opened once more, noting there was not any pain shooting through her body from the lances impaling her before she noticed the sight of blurry red. With a soft grunt; Sheena shifted her head to see Lloyd holding her in his arms as he looked down at her and gave her a small smile of relief before glancing over his shoulder which provoked Sheena to do the same as she saw the pillars of light stuck into the ground where she was previously kneeling.

"Is…Valemeros?" Sheena uttered out in a pained whisper.

"Had to let him go for now…he won't get far." Lloyd called out as he kept his eyes locked on the two that beaten down Sheena. "Can you move?"

"Y—yes, the both of them just stunned me momentarily." Sheena replied with a nod as she shifted lightly in his arms to kneel on her own before she felt Lloyd's hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Go after Valemeros…I need to get my revenge on these two." Sheena demanded in a low tone while she pushed herself to a weak stand. She could feel the warm trail of blood trickle down the side of her face and corner of her mouth already but there was no wound in her mouth…internal damage, which was the last thing that Sheena needed.

"Don't be foolish…Valemeros is not going anywhere. We'll take these two together." Lloyd replied with a firm tone to his own voice. "Besides…I promised I wouldn't leave you behind again." He commented while glancing over his shoulder to give Sheena that small smile once more. She did not know how he could give her such a comforting smile at a time like this but it gave her the strength she needed nonetheless.

"Tsk…fine." Sheena commented, clinging to what was left of her tough façade.

Monique casually walked over to Cecil as the both of them locked their eyes on Sheena and Lloyd before they managed to get to the staircase that Valemeros had retreated down and they stood between them and the entrance to the manor.

"They are…both fighting harder than they ever have before." Sheena warned as she wiped the blood from the side of her face lightly.

"Both of them are willing to die for him…and they won't stop until they stop breathing." Lloyd said grimly as he gripped the hilts to his swords a little tighter.

Sheena nodded as she slipped two more seals from her tunic and braced herself. Cecil's foot pushed off the ground as he charged and Monique followed up by focusing her mana and using the staff as a channel while red energy enveloped around Cecil: sharpness. Lloyd dashed towards the advancing swordsman as Sheena left her own feet before throwing a Serpent Seal in front of Lloyd for him to start the battle with their unified attack of Dark Serpent. Lloyd lifted his sword to begin his dashing thrust through the seal; however, Cecil stopped the attempt as his sword slashed through the seal effortlessly as he continued with the momentum of the swing and spin around to slash down at Lloyd as Cecil crashed his sword down, steel upon steel. Sheena saw Cecil pushed Lloyd off his feet and throw him back while Lloyd twisted in the air and landed in kneeling position.

Spheres of light formulated in the corner of Sheena's eye causing the ninja to turn her attention to see Monique focusing her mind controlled explosive spheres that Monique had used in their last encounter. Sheena would need to leave Cecil to Lloyd and she had to focus on Monique or her spells would certainly turn the tide to their favor.

"I'll take you on!" Sheena called out, gaining Monique's complete attention as she gracefully raced over the already combat beaten ground.

The orbs of light glided through the air effortlessly as Sheena danced and weaved around the oncoming attacks; diving to the side as she landed on one hand and cart-wheeled to a stand before tossing her Pyre seal as the seal exploded on a previously invisible force field surrounding Monique.

'_A protection spell._' Sheena growled in her mind.

The spheres of light completely surrounded Sheena as they slowly circled her like a pack of wolves; Sheena kept herself alert as she pulled out another seal while eyeing the movements of the balls of holy energy.

"Holy Lance," Monique called out while the spheres acted as an entrapment to her movements.

The runic circle of holy energy formed at her feet again as Sheena bit down on her bottom lip and lifted the seal up in front of her, tossing the seal up as it suspended itself in front of her, allowing Sheena to touch the seal with her index and middle finger as it gave a soft glow.

The lances rose and stabbed down and to Monique's delight it seemed that Sheena was unable to avoid them this time as a torn seal dropped to the ground and the lances flickered while impaling Sheena from all angles, cress-crossing through her body as Sheena dropped to the ground and spat out blood while the javelins burned her from inside out. With a fluid motion, Monique closed her extended arm into a fist as the orbs of light that stalked the ninja closed in and exploded.

Pieces of stone kicked up along with dust as Monique coughed lightly and the sound of Lloyd's voice screaming out his partners name filled the skies before the sound of steel against steel followed and Lloyd was defenseless to run to Sheena's aid as the dust wisped into the night skies.

Sheena's body now lay before Monique in a puddle of blood with lifeless eyes staring forward for eternity as Monique gave a breath out from the amount of mana she had to use to dispose of the ninja.

"Quite a sight huh?" Sheena asked from behind Monique.

Monique's head shot up as she stared forward only to see the body of Sheena transform into a wooden doll before transforming back into the Mirage seal to let the crisp air and gentle breeze blow it away into harmless fragments of paper.

The response was quick and in the sight of a flash of gold as Monique turned around with a swing of her staff only to have the golden rod meet empty air as Sheena ducked the on-coming attack before smacking Monique hard once in the gut and then reaching up with her other hand to grab the golden staff and she pulled herself up and over Monique, landing behind the mage as she shoved her palm hard into Monique's kidney area. Sheena was rewarded with a breathless gasp from the mage as her back arched from the invasion of pain. The assault continued as Sheena slammed her palm into the back of Monique's head and then grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around only to have Sheena focus all her strength for one moment in a palm strike that buried itself deep into Monique's chest and it set the red-haired woman to the ground.

"I have been saving this for the right moment…I'll show you my power." Sheena called out as she pulled out a seal that flickered between red, green, blue and light brown.

Sheena had struck Monique four times and each time she had placed a special seal on Monique's body that flickered at the same rate as the one in between Sheena's fingers did and Sheena closed her eyes as a cyclone of seals surrounded the both of them. Monique slowly rose to her feet as her eyes darted around her as she tried to figure out what was happened before she noticed the seals on her body; a last desperate attempt was to try and tear them off…but those seals were not moving.

"Quasi Seal!" Sheena called out as the cyclone of seals all started to flash a variety of colors and Monique screamed as the seals burned into her body and all the seals around the body of them erupted into an overwhelming storm of elemental energy that consumed the one who had the marking seals on their body, the four seals acting like a conduit

Breathing deeply, Sheena dropped to one knee as she watched Monique's body fall to the ground after the attack and lay on the ground motionless before she turned to look over her shoulder. She turned just in time to see Cecil impaled repeated times by Lloyd's sonic thrust as blood littered the ground and Cecil groaned out in agony before falling face first to the ground.

Lloyd stumbled a bit before his head turned quickly to look in Sheena's direction and she saw as Lloyd's instant expression of worry softened to relief. It touched her to know that she worried Lloyd so much, as awful as some may say it is for her to be happy at such a sight but it reminded her that she mattered to someone as she pushed herself to a stand and walked over to Lloyd.

Sheena did not know what Lloyd just went through to defeat Cecil but she could tell it was not so simple to dispatch the man since Lloyd's body was littered with scrapes, tears and blood from shallow wounds that would not be fatal.

"Imagine if you were alone." Sheena coughed out in a teasing manner as a copper flavored substance rose from her throat.

"We are not out of the woods yet," Lloyd spoke as the firm tone returned to his handsome voice. Lloyd glanced to the side to look at the staircase and then back to Sheena as the purple ninja gave a nod and the both of them started their way towards the stairs.

"You…won't…touch him." Monique growled out in agonized anger.

"Not as long…as…we," Cecil hacked up blood before pushing to up to his hands and knees.

"Are still…breathing!" Monique completed Cecil's statement in a scream.

"You both cannot fight anymore…why must you die?" Lloyd called out as he turned to face them.

"Lord Valemeros…this…is our last…" Monique breathed in a swallow manner while a tear fell down her cheek, tightening her grip on her staff as the golden surface gave a faint glow.

"...service." it was Cecil's turn to complete Monique's sentence as he managed to stand on wobbled feet.

"Ready…Cecil? My…Brother?" Monique grunted in agony.

"We…go together…Sister…" Cecil nodded.

The mana became thick in the air once more as Sheena held her breath for a moment and she knew what they both were going to do. Consume the little mana that was supporting their life and use it in one last final effort to dispatch of both Lloyd and her.

"Stop! You both don't have to do this!" Lloyd called out.

"I call forth the purest aspect, untainted by any darkness." Monique uttered out.

"My sword that protects a cause higher than myself, release your fury." Cecil coughed out.

"Radiant Beauty!" Monique screamed as she placed both hands to her chest while a golden radiance built up in Monique's chest before the light funneled into the ground and then quickly burned right below both Lloyd and Sheena.

"Watch out!" Lloyd called out as he tried to turn to push Sheena out of the way of the attack…but it was too late.

Serpents of light burst through the ground as the energy touched every sensitive nerve in Lloyd and Sheena's body as they felt the paralysis caused by pain set in. The serpents of light coiled together as they disappeared into the clouds above and for a single moment a golden twilight lit the sky like it where day until the golden energy showered down violently on the both of them, making them feel like their bodies were being burned through every layer of flesh.

"Noble Saber!" Cecil called, both Sheena and Lloyd did not know how he crossed all the distance so quickly and was now in front of the both of them as he raised his sword high and arcs of lightning were harvested from the ground at the exact moment Monique's radiance had crashed down on the both of them and the energy from Cecil's attack pushed the both of them off the ground before Cecil spun his sword down into a stabbing position and the energy stopped and let them hit the ground. Cecil continued his onslaught as he stabbed his sword into the ground and the stone floor shattered instantly while a burst of hostile mana cut through their bodies before his attack ended with a mana explosion that sent both Lloyd and Sheena hurling through the air to the ground.

Sheena battled the world of blackness as she tried to steady her breath from the gravely shallow breathing she was conscious of as she slowly turned herself over from laying on her back so she could lay on her stomach. Blood blinded her left eye as it was forced to a close and she glanced around weakly with her right eye. Lloyd was slowly recovering as well and he was in no better condition than she was.

"Forgive…me…" Monique whimpered as Sheena heard the sound of her body hit the ground in the distance.

"Lord…" Cecil coughed out before the sound of his plated armor crashing to the shattered ground was heard. "Val...e…" and then he became deathly silent.

'_Lloyd…_' Sheena thought as she forced herself up to her hands and knees. She could feel the wounds already, the thing that was both warming her body's surface but also making her cold inside—blood.

"Sheena…are you…alright?" Lloyd called out from beyond her sights as she slowly turned her head to see Lloyd forcing himself up as well.

"I'll survive…" Sheena replied before her mind bitterly thought. 'At least I hope.'

"They really did it…they both…gave their lives to try and protect Valemeros." Lloyd coughed wetly, the wet substance Sheena could guess would be blood.

"They are idiots…both of them…" Sheena whispered as she managed to stagger to her feet.

She was wiped out and she knew she would not be able to focus any mana for an attack; she was as helpless as Valemeros was and she could easily guess that Lloyd was just as helpless as well.

"I don't know about that." Lloyd replied in a surprisingly understanding tone. "They both fought…and died for what they believe in…just like we are risking out own lives to fight for what we believe in." Lloyd observed as he tried to pick up the engraved katanas but Sheena noticed when he tried that it seemed like the swords had mysteriously increased in a weight beyond his own strength as the hilts of both the swords clanged back to the ground and Lloyd almost stumbled over.

"What do we do now?" Sheena asked, knowing Valemeros was somewhere in the manor but in the condition they both were in she thought it would not be wise to track him down this time.

"We have…come this far, we cannot turn back now." Lloyd groaned out.

"I knew you would say that…you are such a fool sometimes." Sheena somehow managed to give a small smile, even though the muscles in her mouth burned with every word she spoke and so the gesture of a smile with equally as agonizing.

The manor suddenly started to rumble as it knocked both Lloyd and Sheena off their balance as the both of them fell to the ground but managed to recover as Lloyd fell to his hands and knees and Sheena fell to one knee, supporting her weight under her left arm that honestly felt like a wet noodle.

"Wh…what is that?" Sheena exclaimed as she felt the air dampen with overwhelming mana.

"It…can't be." Lloyd grunted in pain.

The stone ground shimmered for a moment before the mana became so thick and predominate in the air that it manifested into a visible form and purple energy started to snake in and out of the stone floor below the both of them.

'_Run!_' a familiar voice screamed in Sheena's mind.

'_Verius?_' Sheena asked in her mind.

'_It's too late…Valemeros's power has reawakened…it has been bottled in his body for so long that he has become completely unstable. The only way he has to get rid of the energy pent up in his body is to release mana at a magnitude more devastating than he ever has been able to!_' Verius informed with a sense of urgency to his tone.

The very skies themselves started to light up with a lavender energy as Sheena closed her eyes before being able to scream out to Lloyd.

"Lloyd…run!" Sheena could not move under such dense mana but there was no reason that Lloyd would have to perish along with her.

"I'm not…le—" Lloyd started.

The red swordsman was interrupted as the ground below them caved and the stones shattered to pieces, only to be lifted up by the dense mana, it had become that thick that it supported and even tossed up solid stones. Sheena had never felt such dense and dangerous mana before…not even with the battle against Mithos. She could not see anything as dust threw it's shroud over the air and Sheena felt weightless for a moment before her body was allowed to ground to the ground and she was surprised how far she fell…the entire manor must have been destroyed from the sheer density of the mana that Valemeros now commanded in his mana surge.

Her heart was stricken with fear as she heard him…his laughter rang through the air, beyond the clouds of dust. His silhouette came to her view from behind the dust as the overflowing mana lit Valemeros up like a beacon…lifting him up in a blinding lavender glow as Sheena's right eye widened while she was forced to hear his laughter that was bordering on insanity.

They were too late.


	32. Power of a God

Chapter 32

Lloyd grunted while the wild mana tossed the crumbling stones of the remaining manor into the lavender tinted night skies. He struggled to get back to a more vertical base as the muscles in his legs twitched and trembled in protest while he fought to keep from collapsing to the debris of the noble manor. Lloyd's eyes instantly shot over to look at Sheena, only to have his vision blurred as dust consumed her from his sights and the sound of a maniacal laughter filled the air and somehow seemed to echo all around him as Lloyd covered his mouth and nose with his forearm to stop from breathing too much dust.

'_Damnit…we're too late._' Lloyd thought to himself as his eyes narrowed.

The thick clouds of dust lit up to reveal to Lloyd the source of the laughter and the source of the thick, almost suffocating, mana that is collecting in the air.

The dust almost instantly started to swirl as if caught in a cyclone before the dirty substance was suddenly sucked into the as if some massive creature had suddenly breathed everything in and cleared Lloyd's sight as he turned his head to the side by instinct to see Sheena—frozen by fear.

"Sheena!" Lloyd called out as he tried to move but the moment he did, a muscle in his thigh felt like it instantly tore from pushing it too much as Lloyd grunted and fell to his knees. The insane laughter came to a sudden stop as it was replaced with a surprisingly excited tone from the noble.

"So this is what Origin is capable of!" Valemeros called out. "The power to bend time…space…and even reality itself."

Lloyd gritted his teeth together as he locked onto the image of Valemeros. The mana was so thick around the noble and completely his command that the mana manifested into a physical energy that granted Valemeros a royal purple aura…his aura. Lloyd hoped his eyes were betraying him when he noticed a thick purple mist forming in the very air itself—but he knew better.

Valemeros was not only in control of the mana around his body but his will was affecting the surrounding mana and bending to his will, showing a massive display of dominance. Lloyd did not know how he could feel it but he swore he could even feel the very mana in his own body siphoning out of his vessel and being absorbed into Valemeros.

'_Lloyd…you need to take Sheena and get out of here._' Verius called into his mind which took Lloyd by surprise.

'_I'm afraid I cannot do that._' Lloyd thought back as he found himself entranced by Valemeros sheer power.

'_Now is not the time to take on this half-elf, all the mana that was being pent up inside him has exploded like a volcano; for a short time, Valemeros will be unstoppable until all that retrained mana has left his body._' Verius explained.

'_That is…exactly why we cannot leave.' _Lloyd grunted as he closed his eyes in a form of finalization._ 'He is too powerful for us to be able to escape unless he lets us leave._' Lloyd pointed out as the grim thought entered his mind. Lloyd had grimly thought of some of the ways he may leave this world when the time actually came…but this was not among the options…at the complete mercy of another. 'This is going to be the final battle…Verius.' Lloyd managed to nod once before he opened his eyes once more to look upon the noble that continued to marvel at the mana surrounding his body, the half-elven noble weaved his hands through the air like he was touching the very aura that consumed him before the noble blinked once and his head slowly turned and Lloyd held his breath for a moment as he found those rich purple eyes lock onto his own.

"Mr. Irving…still alive I see. That can only mean one thing then…" Valemeros stated as his eyes glanced around the wreckage of his manor before they stopped upon the fallen forms of Cecil and Monique—earning a sly grin from the noble. "That means they have failed me…and for the last time it would seem." Valemeros casually dismissed before giving a cold shrug and turning his eyes towards Lloyd.

"Do you…not even care about your comrades?" Lloyd found the strength to call out in an agitated growl.

"I care about them the same way a general cares for the soldiers he sends to battle…" Valemeros chuckled amused. "Expendable…and replaceable."

"You cold bastard." Lloyd gritted his teeth together.

'_Lloyd…don't!_' Verius called into his mind.

Lloyd did not know how he knew where his swords were among the rubble of the manor but next thing he knew he shoved his hands into the wreckage and gripped both hilts of his swords and through his anger, disgust and contempt for Valemeros's lack of sympathy for those who loyalty gave their lives for him were suddenly giving Lloyd the energy and resolve to make one last effort charge. Lloyd managed to spirit across the debris towards the smirking noble as the half-elf even encouraged Lloyd to come closer by wiggling his index finger to come to him.

The next action surprised Lloyd however as Valemeros dropped his arm and even looked up towards the skies as his arms extended to his sides at a forty five degree angle as if accepting the oncoming blow. Lloyd was not going to turn a blind eye to an open opportunity however as he focused everything he had left into a single thrust and the location of the attack would have to count…so Lloyd locked eyes with the location of where his heart would be beating in his chest. Lloyd pushed off his feet to leap at the noble, pulling his right sword back for a moment before unleashing a hurricane like thrust that hit exactly where Lloyd wanted to—but not with the desired effect Lloyd wanted.

"What?" Lloyd uttered out.

The split second he was airborne he watched as his sword hit the noble robes of the man and witnessed with his own eyes that not even the fabric of his robes tore under the thrust—like an invisible force stopped the attack from even hitting Valemeros as Lloyd had gravity lower him back to the ground to land before the noble.

"You think…such weapons matter to someone like me?" Valemeros spoke in a deathly calm tone as his eyes lowered from their gaze on the lavender tinted clouds to look down at Lloyd.

Lloyd coughed out suddenly as he staggered back as if he were inhaling poisonous air. It was then that Lloyd noticed that every breath that Valemeros took was misted over in a royal purple mist; he was breathing in the mana as if it were as natural as breathing air.

"You feel it now, don't you?" Valemeros spoke in his solemn tone as he half closed his eyes. "Mana, the lifeblood of everything that exists and yet…if it is focused so much that it becomes too dense—proves to be more fatal to any normal life form than helpful. Consider yourself like a plant…too much water and the plant dies…too much sun and the plant dies." Valemeros let out a chuckle as he inhaled a full amount of purple mist before breathing it out only so he could weave his fingers through the mana particles. "With this amount of power…I shall confess that I shall have no need of Richter or those exospheres you gave me, Mr. Irving. I can weave the future of the half-elves with my will alone…and to think it was as simple as…" Valemeros trailed off as his purple eyes parted from Lloyd and glanced to the side, making Lloyd look to the same direction to see Sheena still unmoving from her spot as she stared at Valemeros with wide, frightened eyes. "…As taking the summon spirits from you, my fine pale beauty. So much planning…so much effort could have been spared had I known about your…unique ability." Valemeros gave a sly chuckle as he nodded his head as if in respect or thanks. "However…now that you have played your roles respectively…both of you…" Valemeros trailed off again as his eyes once more locked onto Lloyd. "I have…no further use for either of you."

'_Lloyd…can you still move?_' Verius asked, invading Lloyd's mind once more.

'_Barely._' Lloyd confessed. '_Before you even say to run again…there is no way I can get far in the condition I am in._' Lloyd explained as his brown eyes slowly shifted over to look at Sheena. '_and even if I could run…there is no way I am leaving her behind…you know that Verius._' Lloyd added before feeling himself cough, the sudden convulsion of his chest sending a wave of agony through his near shattered body.

'_If that is how you feel…then you just may survive this yet._' Verius confessed, making Lloyd blink in surprise. '_The strength of the heart is more powerful than Valemeros may ever believe. Show him…that strength, Lloyd Irving._' Verius whispered into his mind as his voice seemed to fade away.

'_Verius?_' Lloyd called out in his mind to Verius.

A sudden warmth spread through his body as Lloyd tensed for a moment and was surprised to feel no pain when he did so.

"Hmm…what is this? Must be the power of the summon spirit that still resides with the summoner." Valemeros called out as Lloyd looked down at his body, it was as if Raine was nearby, casting her healing spells over their body and renewing his ability to fight and his resolve to push even harder than before.

With a light grunt, Lloyd brought himself to his feet once again and held both swords firmly in his hands before looking over to Sheena and the sight he saw bewildered him for a moment as Verius stood behind her and looked down at her. Verius's body was slowly dissolving into mana particles and those very same particles were swirling around Sheena's body and Lloyd watched the miracle that had claimed him take place on Sheena as her wounds sealed and the sensation must have knocked Sheena out of her frightened trance as her eyes blinked once and she snapped back to an alert state before looking up towards the skies like she was hearing a voice and her eyes came to a close…Verius completely dissolved and Sheena rose to her feet one more time.

"Sheena…" Lloyd said in a calm tone as if trying to comfort her; Sheena's eyes opened as she looked over to Lloyd and gave a small nod.

"If we have to go…then let's make it big, Lloyd." Sheena spoke out in the same calm tone.

"Right." Lloyd nodded before the both of them turned to Valemeros.

"How adorable…does not change your fate but it is absolutely touching to see such blind faith." Valemeros smirked as he gave a slight tilt to his head. "Come forward then…allow me to remind you both of the painfully obvious power gap between myself and you worthless humans." Valemeros challenged with before letting out an amused chuckle.

"Sheena…be careful not to stay around him too long, the mana is so thick it is like breathing in poisonous vapors." Lloyd warned. "Valemeros…we can't let you win." Lloyd stated.

Without warning, Lloyd charged once again as Valemeros just stood there with the same amused smirk on his face while Lloyd dove in and slashed for the neck. Valemeros even did Lloyd a favor as he tilted his head to expose his neck and Lloyd's blade was stopped completely by his bare skin. Valemeros's hand rose up as he touched Lloyd's blade with the tip of his index finger and in that moment it sent Lloyd's heart for a panic as he saw the surface of his sword crack where the noble touched and made Lloyd jump back. Seals flew towards the noble but were instantly burnt to cinders when they touched his royal purple aura.

"I hope that sword was not sentimental to you." Valemeros mocked.

Lloyd gave a grunt as he looked down to his red hilted swords to confirm the damage that had been done to it. The crack spider webbed from a single point of origin close to the guard of the sword and Lloyd knew that the sword's stability was completely compromised by a single touch.

"Lloyd!" Sheena screamed to gain his attention.

Before Lloyd could look over to Sheena he felt his body cease any movement. Grunting under the power of the restraint, Lloyd tensed his muscles to try and break free of the invisible shackles before he felt his body suspend itself above the ground and out of the corner of his eyes he could see that Sheena was caught in the same entrapment.

"What's…what's happening?" Sheena managed to grunt out.

Lloyd had suffered this effect before, Valemeros is able to control water and their bodies were mostly composed of water so in short he knew they were both now at the mercy of Valemeros; however, that would not stop him from trying to fight against the binds.

"Hmm…should I…kill you both instantly or…" Valemeros trailed off as he pointed his index finger at Lloyd and shifted his hand like he was pulling something away from him and Lloyd felt a burning pain as his skin tore and blood was actually ripped out of his body.

"Argh!" Lloyd grunted in agony as the blood hovered in the air for a moment before splashing onto the rumble below.

Valemeros pointed his index finger at Sheena and did the same moment and Lloyd could see out of the corner of his eye the sight of Sheena flinching in pain as blood was ripped from her body and the small stream hit the ground below as well.

"Painfully?" Valemeros completed his self-inquiry. "Oh…this way is so much more fun for me." Valemeros confessed.

The noble's hand now started to move like he were the conductor of a grand symphony and tortured Lloyd to feel every rip, tear and rending of his flesh as he felt the blood being pulled out of his body in small bursts. Valemeros was slowly going to bleed them both until they were dead.

The gleeful laughter from the seemingly insane Valemeros slowly dulled as each second was treated to another agony with a new tear in Lloyd's skin and the vision of Sheena in the corner of his eye slowly became hazy as he realized he was going to lose consciousness.

Lloyd's body crashed to the ground and impact was enough to snap him awake before he had the chance to pass out as he grunted, clawing his hands across the now blood soaked debris while he turned his head enough to look over to Sheena who was also allowed to fall to the ground and her body slowly pushed itself to her hands and knees.

"Oooo…ho…you are not going to die on me just yet. What is the fun of making it a painful demise if you both die so soon? Besides, I shall need to address someone…the only one with knowledge about Exire and the one who brought you here. I would not want you to miss that." Valemeros spoke out to the both of them. Lloyd could only lie there in his own blood as he saw Valemeros walk up to Sheena and place his foot on her back to stomp her down as Sheena let out a pain gasp.

"Shee…na…" Lloyd uttered as he attempted to call upon resources that did not exist to pull him back up. Lloyd was reduced to only being able to watch as Valemeros bent down and grabbed Sheena's hand and pulling the ring off her finger and it was then that Lloyd knew what Valemeros meant.

Lloyd grunted as his eyes focused on Valemeros looking down at the ring in the palm of his hand and then his eyes went to Sheena and fear struck his heart as he noticed Sheena being reduced to ragged breathing, the condensed mana around Valemeros was poisoning her lungs.

"Vale…meros." Lloyd grunted in anger.

"Hm?" Valemeros sounded in what could pass for an innocent tone as he blinked once and then looked down to Sheena and chuckles. "Oh I am sorry…my bad…you cannot breath in such condensed mana now can you?" Valemeros chuckled before he walked off. "Hello again…feline." Valemeros spoke to what seemed to be no one; but Lloyd knew he was speaking to Cat, the prisoner of the ring. "So then, allow me to get this straight. I offer you freedom and you repay me by leading these two to Exire? You have some gratitude problem, you do know that?" Valemeros laughed out in utter amusement. Lloyd shifted his head enough to look to Valemeros as the noble looked down at the ground in front of him to where only Valemeros was able to see Cat.

"Hmhm, However…everything worked out in the end so I guess what I have to say is that I will live to my end of the bargain at least, I am an honorable noble after all." Valemeros spoke in a casual tone. "But…" he added in, looking down at the ring. "I did not express the manner of which I would grant you your freedom now did I?" Valemeros suddenly smirked in a sinister manner as his eyes slowly rose to where Cat is standing—not that Lloyd could see her. "I have a nice little theory…humor me by listening if you will. I believe this ring is your prison and home…you are bound to it and so if something were to happen to your home…it would be unpleasant for you." Valemeros extended the hand that held Cat's rings as he bent his fingers as if her were holding a baseball; the flames of mana rose from the palm of his hand as Lloyd could hear the magical ring violently crack and spark as magic was matched against magic.

With a flash of light, Cat suddenly appeared to Lloyd's eyes as well as his own eyes widened and the sight he saw was nothing less than horrific as he witnessed Cat's fur burn and her head lifted towards the skies as her deafening screams of pain filled the air and Cat's very flesh cracked violently as light erupted from every opening on the feline until she shriveled up into a charred husk that crumbled into black dust and the screams that echoed in the air were finally silenced.

The image that Lloyd saw was so brutal that he had to close his eyes the moment her agonized screams filled the air and the sight of Cat being slowly burned to death was too much for him to be able to bear. Clenching his jaw tight he slowly opened his eyes again and turned his gaze to Valemeros while the noble casually dusted off his gloves the same way a person would dust of snow and the sadistic smirk turned into a light chuckle as he looked down at the charred dust of Cat.

"And…you are free." He coldly commented.

"You…bastard." Lloyd growled as he felt his body tremble in anger but the amount of blood he had lost made it impossible for him to do anything beyond that.

"Oh…don't worry; I can now get to you two…now that I am done with her." Valemeros grinned.


	33. A pink fury

Chapter 33

Sheena shut her eyes tight as she heard the horrific screaming of agony from Cat, her ears could not believe such sounds were made possible from a voice box as her fingers dug into the blood soaked debris of the former majestic manor and she tried to block out the sounds that would haunt her dreams for years to come. The screams were forced silenced as Sheena pressed her teeth together at the sound of mystic fire slowly cooking, turning the vessel of the feline to charred remains as the dry sound of flesh pressing against itself could be distinctly heard by Sheena as much as she wished she did not hear such awful sounds before the dried flesh crumbled and Sheena felt it deep in her heart that Cat's form had crumbled under the flames and she was gone.

A tear slipped down Sheena's eye to mix with the blood already covering her cheek, a tear an inch or so below her eye that was caused when Valemeros ripped an opening on that spot let Sheena's senses tingle as the salty tear toyed with the awake and receptive nerves in her wound as she flinched for a moment.

'_I'm…so…so…sorry…Cat._' Sheena thought in deep sorrow.

"Valemeros!"

The scream made Sheena's eyes open suddenly as her head jerked painfully and before her lips could open to plead for the determined voice to stop, Lloyd had already taken up arms once more and somehow found the strength to charge at the man once more. Lloyd had lost so much blood and yet some strength was still pushing him forward, bringing him to his feet again before her very eyes and she was reminded why she found Lloyd to be the most amazing man in her life.

The sword clashed against Valemeros's forearm as the noble raised a hand to block the slash with nothing but the cloth on his skin as the noble gave an amazed smirk. Valemeros shifted the finger of his other hand as the stones on the ground shattered into shards and shot into the air. Sheena held her breath as she watched those shards embed themselves into Lloyd and send him flying back to crash to the air.

"Humans are quite the stubborn race…aren't they?" Valemeros smirked with interested as he looked down at the fallen warrior once more.

Sheena's eyes shifted from Valemeros to look over to Lloyd and saw as he slowly, painfully pulled himself to kneel on the ground, gripping both his swords stubbornly, forgetting the fact that his right-hand sword was cracked previously by Valemeros. The determination Sheena found in Lloyd's eyes shocked the purple ninja as he looked to Valemeros, ignoring his wound grave wounds and charging at the half-elf noble once more.

Sheena coughed out once before she managed to push herself to her hands and knees once more, only to hear Lloyd's body hit the ground and this time the shifting of the ground and lingering of sounds suggesting this time Lloyd took a tumble and rolled along the ground. Lloyd's voice rang through the air again as his footsteps singled his third charge and Sheena glanced to the side to see a sight that honestly surprised her.

Monique…her breathing was shallow, her chest moved so slowly that it was barely even noticeable. The only reason Sheena was able to notice she was still breathing is because she noticed that Monique was slowly choking on the thick lavender mana, Valemeros's dominated mana was slowly choking what little life the female was hanging onto. Sheena forced her eyes to look over to where Cecil's body had ended up landing, face down in the debris but yet he was still barely breathing as well and Sheena knew without any form of first aid the both of them would perish before long…if Valemeros's mana did not choke out their life before they would be allowed to die on their own.

"Now you are just boring me, Mr. Irving." Valemeros called out, capturing Sheena's attention.

The mana grew thick, paralyzing Sheena for one moment under how heavy the mana felt against her beaten form and before her eyes she saw the materialization of the one weapon she hoped never to be used against them: The Eternal Sword. In his hands collected the heavy lavender mana and it swirled before crystallizing into a purple blade surrounded but a silver glass, emerging from the purple blade came the golden handle to the Eternal Sword as Valemeros grasped the blade and his cold, calculating eyes fell upon Lloyd.

Fear shook Sheena as her heart skipped a beat and she knew instantly that no sword could withstand the force that the Eternal Sword was capable of as the noble swung at the charging Lloyd and reacting off of pure desperation, Sheena dashed across the crumbled manor as she could swear she heard the very cells of mana being cut by the swing of the blade. Lloyd's charge stopped as he noticed the swing and braced both swords to block the oncoming attack before. Sheena jumped forward as her shoulder slammed into Lloyd's hip and she could hear him grunt in surprise before she felt his body give and her eyes cast over her shoulder as quickly as she could, the entire world almost moved too slow and allowed her to see the Eternal Sword's edge slice through the very air like it were composed of cloth fabric and the sword hit the crossed blades crafted in Mizuho and to her deepest despair she watched the swords shattered upon contact and the Eternal Sword effortlessly disposed of the blades of steel and had Lloyd still been standing where he was then Lloyd would be without an upper body as the sword met nothing else but steel and air.

Sheena tumbled with Lloyd in her arms before she managed to land on her knees and sit upright, feeling the back of Lloyd's head hit her chest somewhat painfully as she kept her arms wrapped around his chest. The shards of steel made light jingle sounds as the shards all scattered along the stone, marble, and dirt as Sheena tightened her arms around him as she held her breath for a moment, staring defiantly at the noble with an unexplained anger directed at the man.

"One more, Mr. Irving…you are pulled from death by the arms of that purple ninja. I shall confess that I was confused at first at how you ever managed to survive our previous encounter," Valemeros stated with a sly smirk while pointing the Eternal Blade at both Lloyd and Sheena while he casually walked towards. "But thinking about it now…it is you that keeps pulling that man from the grips of death and that time in the crater…that had to be some form of illusion…inspired by you mysterious arts, Sheena Fujubayashi." Valemeros confronted.

"I have nothing to say to you." Sheena snapped.

Her body however scolded her as she felt her muscles knot up and her mind was reminded of her wounds as she felt the openings in her body continue to drip out the red substance that was supposed to nurture her life.

Lloyd shifted in Sheena's arms as the woman glanced down to notice Lloyd slowly pulling himself up, still gripping the hilts of the now shattered swords. Sheena slowly rose up with him as she placed her hands on his shoulders and stood behind the valiant warrior.

"Why…why do you even try, Mr. Irving? You know you cannot hurt me…and with a single swing of my sword I can change any reality as I desire. You do not even have your swords to depend on anymore…you have lost." Valemeros scoffed out, his footsteps could still be heard by Sheena as she stood behind Lloyd.

"This…could be the end." Lloyd whispered just loud out for Sheena to hear.

That statement coming from Lloyd did not sound as frightful as she thought it would. The day had finally come for the both of them to met their end and it was reassuring to know that she would be able to share her final moments of existence with Lloyd as she slide her hands carefully over his torn back, avoiding the gashes along his body and slide her arms around him as she held the man close and nodded with her cheek pressing against his back.

If they were not going to die at that moment by Valemeros then blood loss would be next in line to take their lives within the next hour anyways. Sheena knew with the amount of blood she lost she was gone; every heart beat in her body was only a progressing step towards complete darkness.

"I try…because our souls are two that you will never control with fear Valemeros…not as long as we are breathing." Lloyd yelled back at the elven noble with an energy and vigor that betrayed his physical condition. "The worst you can to us…is take our lives."

"Heh, well you're right about one thing."

That comment made Sheena close her eyes tight for a moment as she firmly held onto Lloyd like he would be blown away in a sudden turbulent wind while the sound of mana being shredded was heard very briefly while the Eternal Sword was swung at the both of them.

The deathly silence was shattered when the sound of sword against sword was heard, the notable clang echoing in the empty spaces of the night. Sheena's eyes opened suddenly as she blinked once in realization that she and Lloyd were still alive. Casting her eyes to look above she saw something that not only surprised her but also seemed to surprise Lloyd as well and Valemeros's sound of confusion was heard in the air.

"What?" Valemeros uttered in surprise.

The Eternal Sword hovered in the air above the hilts as if there were some object repelling the edge from delivering the final blow on the two; with a twist of the hilt the Eternal Sword's bladed edge dragged along the invisible wall which created red and purple sparks to bounce in the air. The moment the sparks fizzled into the, the air vibrated and shooting out of the hilts came two blades composed of what seemed to brightly enchanted steel that gave off a separate radiance, one blade glowing red and the other glowing purple.

An unknown strength came off Lloyd as Sheena held her breath for a moment and the muscles in the young man's arms tensed as he pushed against the Eternal Sword and watched as the mighty blade fly back while Valemeros staggered to regain his balance.

"You have more surprises than I took you for…Mr. Irving." Valemeros frowned.

"Lloyd…what is happening?" Sheena whispered as she kept her eyes locked on the two swords that had just materialized out of nothing but thin air.

"I…I don't know…but it has the power to repel his sword…which means we have a chance." Lloyd uttered out breathlessly, the collecting sweat on his forearm and the ragged breath she felt through his back however reminded her that they both were clinging onto thin threads of life.

"Lloyd…we…we don't have long." Sheena whispered.

"I know…this is our last effort." Lloyd confessed while giving a wet, almost sickly cough.

"Heh, repel my blade you say? That might be able to do…but I assure you there are more ways to do battle than a simple clash of the swords." Valemeros commented.

The shifting of the earth behind them caught Sheena's ears as she snapped her eyes to look over her shoulder before seeing the solid pike of earth shot up from the ground and Sheena tried to jump to the side with Lloyd still in her arms.

"LLO-ugh!" Sheena tried to call out before her scream of his name was cut short by a sickening gag as Sheena felt the spear composed of rock cleave through her body and even stab into Lloyd's body the moment the both of them left the ground. Sheena coughed violently against Lloyd's back as she felt the fluids spill out of her lips, a dark, almost black, substance came out of her mouth as realized the object had just tore through some of her vital organs and it threw her body into a mild shock that ignored the pain she should have been feeling. Replacing it with a surreal dizziness, breathlessness, and let her mind enter in a calm state that made her body go limp.

Sheena could feel the smooth rock that composed the object used to impale both her and Lloyd shift and move as the sickening sensation of feeling the spear like sliding back as if the ground was slowly calling back to it. The earthen lance slide along the inside of Sheena before slipping out of her completely as Sheena let out a suddenly gasp and staggered back, planting one foot behind her as her hands instantly rose to her gut to cover the gaping wound as she heard the sound of her own and Lloyd's blood suddenly splash onto the ground, vital blood she just lost to add to her previous pool of blood she left when Valemeros was reaping them both of the red substance. Sheena's knees buckled under her own weight as she crumbled to the ground, bent over while trying to press her hands into her wide wound.

The clatter of the swords was enough to get Sheena to raise her head enough to watch as Lloyd fell in front of her, landing onto his back. Shifting her own weight, Sheena desperately inched her way to Lloyd's body as she reached to his head with bloodied hands and gently grabbed onto the sides of his head as she allowed him to rest in her lap.

Sheena's lips opened but no words came out and all she could do was close her tear filled eyes as she ran her soaked hands through his brown, ragged hair.

"Take comfort in the fact you both shall not have to suffer for much longer…and that the both of you proved to be more durable than I ever expected your human race to be capable of." Valemeros stated in a calm tone like such words would bring them comfort.

One thing brought Sheena even a minor form of comfort was the fact she could feel Lloyd's body twitch to show he was still alive at least but in this moment…their darkest moment, she was not so sure it was best for him to suffer through this. Her left hand left his hair as she brought her hand to her gut once more and covered over the hole in her body before she managed to bring her agonized eyes to meet with Valemeros…staring down with an expressionless facial appearance and dull, cold purple eyes that could only be linked to a hatred…a hatred of humans.

"I am not a noble without mercy…allow me to end such needless suffering." Valemeros calmly stated as he raised his left hand.

Sheena pressed her teeth together as she held her breath for the final strike.

The ground around Valemeros sparked lightly which made Sheena think at first that this was Valemeros's final attack; however the expression on the noble's face made her think twice of it as her eyes widened.

"Hm?" Valemeros blinked in surprise as he glanced to the ground.

The ground suddenly created a cage of lightning that circled around Valemeros and with a finalizing bright flash, the lightning erupted and exploded on spot. Sheena grunted while she opened her mouth to speak but ended up only coughing out more near-black blood.

"Raine…Lloyd…now!" commanded a male tone.

'_R…Raine?_' Sheen through as her head slowly rolled to the side to see Raine, Genis and even Colette running towards her.

"Oh, I hope I am not too late…Lloyd, Sheena…hold on." Raine called out as she nodded to Colette who rushed forward and braced Sheena on her spot. "Hold her as still as possible…I would lay her down but we do not know if she would just choke on her blood." Raine stated in a grim manner as she closed her eyes and Sheena could see the healers hands trembling as she focused herself as quickly as she could.

"Heh heh heh," laughter came from the dust cloud created by the lightning. "This has been too long awaited…while I was with the designs, they always taught me that the Four Seraphim were to be revered and respected and now I get to see for myself…why you are capable of." Valemeros swiped his hand to the side as the dust instantly vaporized into mana to clear his sight while Valemeros's wide grin can be seen by Sheena; his purple glowing eyes narrowed at the source. "I hope this is not the best you can muster…Yuan Ka-Fai!" Valemeros raised his voice when he spoke the name.

'_Y…Yuan?_' Sheena idly thought as her head slowly turned.

"Don't move, please…you have done so much already." Colette whispered as she tried to comfort Sheena.

Yuan stood there with a calm, almost accepting expression as he raised a hand to lightly tug at the cape that concealed his body before giving the fabric a yank and tossing it to the air while holding out his right arm as a surge of lightning collecting into his palm and transformed into his double-headed, weapon of choice that had a sharp edge everywhere but where the timeless seraphim held it.

"Ahh…that's it Yuan, give me everything you got…You know, I thought I would never have the chance to fight one of your kind…so you can imagine how delighted I was to hear you had gone rogue but yet how frustrated I was at the same time that I could not fight you myself…and with Cruxis gone, well I thought your kind had died with it." Valemeros smirked as he stepped towards the man who to Sheena's surprise it mean he was ignoring the entire group to focus on Yuan.

Warmth was allowed to course through her body, warmth that shattered her numb body and provided Sheena a minor ease as her eyes widened and she noticed her as well as Lloyd were surrounded in a mystic circle and Sheena instantly knew that Raine was focusing her Healing Circle. As long as Raine was able to keep her focus, she would try and nurse them both back to health. Sheena did not know if her healing spell would reverse all the blood that was spilled from their bodies however, but it would at least stabilize the both of them.

'_Hold on…Lloyd…we'll be…we'll be alright._' Sheena thought with a sense of hope.

"The last of the Four Seraphim." Yuan stated with a voice that was void of emotion.

"A fact I shall soon correct." Valemeros jeered.

Sheena could do nothing but watch as Yuan pounced towards the god-like noble; Yuan's bladed weapon struck fast, swift, and deceptively powerful and yet each both was met with an effortless block by the Eternal Sword as Valemeros pushed the blade away and sent Yuan crashing to the ground with each attempt. Yuan also had magic artes too; Sheena could only wonder why he was not using them at the moment as she helplessly watched from the distance as Yuan was discarded after every single attack. Genis stepped into Sheena's vision as he readied his Kendama and the swell of mana indicated he was going to focus a spell.

"No!" Yuan called out, stopping the young mage from casting his spell.

Genis stepped back which cleared Sheena's line-of-sight again and Sheena could see Yuan looking towards the both of them. Valemeros's cold eyes were glancing over his shoulder the group as well but he gave the expression that he did not care that Raine is healing the both of them. Sheena's eyes went back to look at Yuan as he wordlessly lipped to her.

'_Keep him safe._'

Sheena knew exactly why at that moment he was not using his spells; Yuan was trying to buy them both as much time as possible and if he used artes then it would provoke Valemeros to use his own spells and it would probably wreck havoc on the remains of the floating manor as well as shorten the battle between the two, so he tried to keep Valemeros's attention through melee combat…and his wordless request of her struck a grave feeling in Sheena's heart.

'_Yuan…does not…expect to live through this_.' Sheena though sadly.

Sheena tried to battle to get back up but found herself gently pushed down back to a seated position by Colette's gentle hands; the blonde was always surprisingly strong.

"Please…Sheena…let Raine heal you…please?" Colette asked softly.

The sound of Yuan's weapon clashing against the Eternal Sword was heard again as the impact thundered into the air and once more was silenced as Valemeros blocked the blow with ease and once more pushed his sword against Yuan's and send the Seraphim to the ground, tumbling to recover before running at the man again. Sheena half closed her eyes in sorrow as she knew she could not bring herself to watch the fight knowing Yuan had already accepted his end.

"Shee…na?" Lloyd called out in a weak tone.

Sheena's eyes went wide as she looked down to see Lloyd slowly recovering before her eyes and his brown eyes now looked up at her. Lloyd grunted while he shifted in her lap and pushed himself up slowly to a seated position at least.

"Lloyd…don't move so much…Raine is still healing you." Colette gave the gentle command that lacked any real authority behind it but more of the gentle hearted request.

Sheena raised a hand to touch against her throat as she slowly parted her lips in an attempt to speak her first words since the grave wounds were inflicted on her from the earthen spear.

"Lloyd." Sheena whispered, surprised how easy it was to speak as she knew she could only have Raine to thank for that and how quickly energy was returning to her body as she shifted enough to readjust her previously uncomfortable position, raising a hand to pat Colette's as a way of reassuring the worried blond that she was just repositioning herself.

"Yuan!" Lloyd called out as he suddenly pushed himself to one knee.

"Lloyd no, please don't move!" Colette called out.

"Lloyd don't!" Genis called out at the same time.

Sheena suddenly reached out to grab Lloyd by the arm to stop him from leaping to his feet like she knew he would and his head whirled to meet with her and Sheena could not bring herself to tell him to stop but only close her eyes and shake her head slowly, adding a small squeeze with her hands.

"Heh, I must say…it is admirable of you to try and delay as much time as you can, Yuan Ka-Fai." Valemeros voiced out suddenly as his glowing eyes glanced over his shoulder.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Yuan grunted out.

"Raine," Lloyd called out suddenly from the circle of healing, causing Sheena to glance over to the red swordsman and despite being torn, beaten, siphoned, and on the verge of death; his eyes gave strength of courage that could not be crushed. "Monique and Cecil are going to die if they do not get any healing artes used on them." Lloyd called out suddenly which surprised Sheena for a moment.

She did not know that he noticed the two of Valemeros's henchmen were clinging onto ribbons of life from expending so much in the fight against them and what shocked her more was that he wished to save them from death's grasp. Maybe such a request from the noble hearted young man should not have shocked Sheena so much but it did nonetheless as Sheena gave a glance over to the fallen forms of their former adversaries.

"Lloyd be quiet and let me heal you." Raine demanded with her eye brows furrowed in a slight annoyance.

"Maybe it is not the best time to worry about them, Lloyd…they…they are our enemies." Sheena managed to mutter out while she slowly pulled herself from the worried hands of the blond chosen.

"So were you at one point." Lloyd responded in a grim tone as Sheena watched the young man tense, he really did wish to save others from death…friend or foe. Sheena could not argue the young man's point, when she was wounded in Luin, fighting for the people against the designs and it was the mercy given by Lloyd and Colette that pressured Raine into tending to her wounds a couple of years back and now here she was standing by his side through any hardship and she would remain by his side…no matter what.

"I tire of you." Valemeros commented, earning Sheena's attention as her head turned.

Sheena's head turned just in time to see Yuan swiping down at Valemeros once more and this time the noble blocked the blow with nothing but the sleeves of his noble robes as all the force from the blow stopped in an instantly, even gave a grunt of surprise before Valemeros let out a sigh.

"I expected more…from a seraphim." Valemeros coldly stated.

It was at that moment that the entire world seemed to freeze as Valemeros shoved his arm against the bladed object that rested against the fabrics of the robe and the weapon shattered to pieces right before everyone's eyes as Yuan's arm was pushed off to the side, exposing him to attack and Valemeros did not let the opportunity go to waste as he stepped forward with a speed that not even Sheena's well trained eyes could register. Blood spilled onto the ground as Yuan coughed out blood instantly and Sheena felt fear dominate her heart once more…the scene her eyes adjusted to was Valemeros with his arm impaled into Yuan's chest, blood already spilled from the wound as Yuan's body became frozen in shock. Sheena could see Valemeros's arm on the other side of Yuan's body, his hand was flat so his arm could stab in a more spear like fashion and slowly the noble's fingers closed into a fist before Valemeros's head slowly turned to face the breathless group and his arm that suspended Yuan had been thrown to the side as Yuan's body slide off the noble's arm and the last of the seraphim on the planet was hurled through the air and even over the edge while Sheena closed her eyes in horror. The ocean had become the grave for Yuan that day and it was all because the two of them had attacked Valemeros prematurely.

"Yuan!" Lloyd yelled; Sheena could hear his footsteps leaving the protective area of the healing circle which earned verbal protests from Genis, Colette and Raine.

"Mourn not the loss of your comrade…instead hold joy in the fact you all shall be reunited soon enough." Valemeros coldly stated with a calm voice that could be thought to be his tone of comfort.

"There is no forgiveness for you, Valemeros." Lloyd growled out.

"Well that is good…because I was not looking for any." Valemeros dismissed casually.

The feeling of the warmth slowly faded as Sheena opened her eyes and stood to her feet, her sight was still hazed, dizzy, and weak as she regained her balance from her body slowly recovering from the brutal damage it had to endure. Breathing out softly one more time she put her confidence in Lloyd as her head turned and her eyes narrowed at the overwhelming energy of Valemeros that continued to dominate the air.

"Raine…" Lloyd reminded as he kept his eyes locked on Valemeros.

"You are too merciful at times." Raine muttered loud enough for Sheena to pick up but not loud enough for it to cover the distance and reach Lloyd.

Sheena glanced to the side to spot the two shattered blades that were both gifted to Lloyd by her and her heart skipped a beat to see them in such a state but then she remembered that something happened when they were in Lloyd's hands and blades of red and purple energy materialized, strong enough to block the attacks from the Eternal Sword. Pushing off her right foot, Sheena took to a graceful dash, pushing her newly healed body to their limits already, as she bent down and picked up both hilts of the swords without losing a step and she ran right passed Valemeros…the moment she passed him her eyes shifted to the side and she did not know how she could tell with the half elf's eyes becoming nothing more than pulsating mana in the shade of royal purple but she felt that he watched her every moment with the greatest of ease. Even her naturally blinding speeds were easy to track for this man as Sheena stood beside Lloyd, digging her heel into the ground as she came to a stop and locked her eyes onto Valemeros while offering him the hilts of the broken swords. He took it without a word as the two of the waited for Valemeros to make the first move.

"Exactly how many lives do the two of you got?" Valemeros stated in a mused tone.

"Any plans, Lloyd?" Sheena whispered as she breathed out once deeply.

The stiff silence was Sheena's answer that the young man had nothing in mind.

"Hm?" Valemeros commented casually once more as the ground below him gave a sudden blue hue. Sheena felt her heart skip a beat when she noticed the discoloration and then shot a glance over to Genis who had already cast the spell.

The ground turned from the pale blue to that of the deepest ocean in a matter of seconds as the ground erupted with ice and solidified Valemeros, entrapping the noble into a frozen tomb and freezing his less than impressed facial expression in time before another chuck of ice fell from above and shattered the tomb in hopes that the form of Valemeros would shatter along with the ice as the smoke of dry ice rose into the air. Genis did not stop there; Sheena noticed he was not going to be taking any chances as he was already starting to mutter his next spell as the ball of his Kendama was sent bouncing in the air as the motions helped Genis concentrate on his spells.

Sheena had to help in some way in case Valemeros was still alive after the Absolute spell from Genis and Sheena knew that based on the mana levels surrounding Valemeros that his survival was next to guaranteed as Sheena pulled out her seals and jumped into the air, tossing over a dozen seals with lightning quick hands to create a circle around the area from which Absolute hit and landing to one knee, Sheena already began to shift her hand gestures as the seals instantly multiplied and side by side, one on top of the other they created a tower of seals that trapped the noble inside. There was not going to be a simple escape for this time.

Shards of prismatic light fell around her tower of seals and created another wall, this was Genis's Prism Sword and the light shining through the minor cracks in between Sheena's seals showed that punishing light was trapped inside the tower as well and with nowhere to run, the victim would be forced to endure the entire spell.

"Sheena…can you do anything else?" Lloyd asked with a tone that was firm; he was not belittling her efforts to trap Valemeros inside the tower but was actually asking if she had to focus to keep the tower sealed tight.

Sheena breathed out once as she held her palms closed, index fingers pressed together with her middle fingers coiled towards the inside of her hand and her thumbs crossed over each other, her brown eyes narrowed as she focused on the sealing tower.

"That depends…Lloyd." Sheena grunted out.

With a swing of the swords, the once shattered blades came to life again as they radiated brightly a color of crimson and lavender as he stepped in front of Sheena to stare at the tower.

"These swords can repel the Eternal Sword, I think if they are powerful enough to do that…then they can damage him and this might be out only chance." Lloyd voiced out in a determined tone as he focused his sights on the tower itself.

"I…understand…trust me then, Lloyd…let me focus." Sheena breathed out once.

All the years she spent training her seals, she had perfected the sealing tower just in last few years and to go beyond that while maintaining the tower was something she was taught not to be foolish enough to attempt; however, desperate times called for desperate measures and for all she knew the sealing tower was only working because the one contained inside was letting it.

The tower of seals rumbled and disrupted Sheena's thoughts for a moment as her eyes went wide in shock before she realized what was happening inside. The near black energy she spotted through the sliver like cracks between her seals did not belong to Valemeros; Genis had managed to call upon Gravity Well to crush anything that remained inside the tower of seals. Genis was giving his all as well, acknowledging this as their final and last attack on the noble.

Sheena still felt too weak to try anything beyond the tower of seals; her body was wrecked and her organs which were once traumatized were still recovering and she could feel that every movement actually made her feel sick but she pushed the physical borders her body was trying to warn her of.

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked, his head turning to meet with her concentrated form.

"Give…me…one more…moment." Sheena pleaded.

"From the land of the living…I call upon thy in the land of the dead to unleash thy fury of thunder….Indignation!" Genis called out suddenly as the clouds swirled above the tower of seals before a bright flash of lightning ripped through the skies, breaking the top of the tower of seals and surging the entire inside with rending electricity that quaked the ground on impact as Sheena pushed herself up to stand and broke her hands which would break her channel on the tower of seals and she slipped her hands into her tunic, drawing four seals and tossing them all as quickly as they had been presented as all four seals landed onto the glowing red blade that Lloyd held firmly in his grasp.

"Now Lloyd!" Sheena called out.

Lloyd did not waste a second the moment the seals wrapped around his blade as he dashed forward, kicking up loose debris on his starting bound before jumping into the air and pulling back on the red sword while letting out a strong battle cry. Sheena responded but shifting her hands rapidly in gestures that caused the seals to swirl open and cause an opening for Lloyd to jump into; Sheena did not end her efforts there as she vigorously shifted her hands to a different formation of movements and every seal flickered to life.

When the hole opened enough for Lloyd to jump into, it gave her a sight on Valemeros and he stood there completely unaffected by the rain of spells he had to endure, his left hand was raised above his head and swirling in his palm was the energy used for Indignation, it had been stopped completely by his bare hand as his head slowly lowered from looking towards the skies to lock on with Lloyd landing down towards him with his sword drawn for the final strike.

Lloyd stabbed forward with everything he had left as the four seals Sheena imbued onto the blade burned bright against his blade only for time to stand still once more as Valemeros reached up with his right hand that once held the Eternal Sword was now nowhere to be seen as the noble caught Lloyd's blade perfectly and all the young man's momentum was robbed.

'Impossible…nothing…harms him.' Sheena felt the trembled of terror take her form.

Valemeros gave a slight smirk before throwing Lloyd to the side, using the young man's body to shatter the tower of seals as they all shattered to the wind, Sheena's terror made it so the tower held no more stability. The moment the charms floated to the winds, Valemeros dropped his left hand towards Genis as the stored energy shot out and before the child mage could react; his body was overtaken with his very own spell as Genis screamed in agony.

"Genis!" Colette called out in fear.

Sheena felt her knees give as the rest of her energy was spent maintaining the tower of seals and empowering Lloyd's single strike that did not even bother the noble. Crashing to the ground, Sheena found herself hard on breathing as she watched Lloyd crash to the ground violently and this time he did not move as he laid prone on his back…the energy of the swords fading out as the shattered blades reclaimed their form; Lloyd was unconscious.

Colette dropped to her knees when Genis hit the ground as the blond quickly checked on his condition before turning her blue eyes to Valemeros and the brave young girl grabbed her chakrams and stood in front of Genis, hurling her thrown weapons as the metallic rings zeroed in on the head of Valemeros but that too was in vain as the elven noble raised his hand and swiped at both of the flying objects as they shattered under his counter strike.

Everything seemed to go silent for Sheena as she watched everything unfold without the slightest bit of sound besides her own beating heart. Dark matter enveloped and consumed Colette in the blink of an eye and as quickly as the darkness had claimed the bright haired girl the energy was dismissed as Colette staggered back and hit the ground hard. Valemeros turned on his heel just in time to catch Raine focusing a spell and with a wave of his hand Sheena watched as Raine dropped her staff and fell to all fours. Raine's motions suggested she was gagging as water spilled from the white haired healers mouth almost constantly. Valemeros was drowning her lungs in water and it at the rate that Raine was coughing gave away that the healer would not survive much if the water source was not stopped…Raine was going to be done for.

"Lloyd…Raine…Genis…Colette…Yuan…L…Lloyd?" Sheena shivered as her eyes darted around the area before she swallowed hard and her brown eyes looked up as she noticed Valemeros looking down at her from five paces away. A sinister smirk spread across his gave as he gave a slight tilt to his head and his lips moved…but she heard nothing. Why was she not able to hear anything besides her own beating heart?

"…never stood a chance from the very beginning." Valemeros's voice suddenly thundered in her ear drums as she snapped out of her frightful trance. "I shall confess however that I—" Valemeros started to say before his head turned to the side.

A scream filled the air and right before Sheena's eyes she saw the noble that was slowly advancing towards her had turned around to meet the battle cry and his feet actually left the ground as he gave a bewildered grunt and his form was sent flying into the air and out of Sheena's sight as her head jerked to the side to watch as his body slammed into the ground, not on the ground but he disappeared into the mound of debris and emerged on the other side. Raine suddenly coughed out violently as the water stopped flooding her lungs with Valemeros's concentration broken.

Sheena turned her head to look at the source of such force and saw a woman she could not recall ever seeing before. A mysterious woman with long, waist length pink hair and blue eyes filled with rage while she stared right where the noble was sent flying. Her bangs were pulled behind her ears so the strands of hair fell down and over the front of her shoulders while the rest of her hair was tied back behind her head with a single red ribbon that allowed her pink hair the freedom of blowing in the wind behind her. Wearing a form-fitting white tank top that hugged her body and actually showed off her ample cleavage while sporting a open coat that flowed down behind her just above her knees, displaying itself more like a cape with a neck hugging collar, the vestment was held to her body by a pair of brown suspenders that were snapped into steel links in her loose black pants that had shown signs of many adventures had while still being neat and cleaned and tucked into her steel plated boots. The outfit was complete with gloves that had protective steel plates over the back of her hands and transformed into arm warmers to protect the surface of her arms from whatever weather that nature may have chose to throw at this study woman.

"Who…" Sheena blinked in amazement at her strength.

The woman lifted an axe, composed of stone with a ruby setting in the head that was impossibly huge for anyone to wield with even two hands and the woman casually rested the weight of the axe on her broad shoulder with one hand effortlessly. In the woman's other hand was a masterly forged emerald green axe head attached to a golden frame and golden handle, the cross forged between the duel-headed axes showed it to be blessed by the church of Martel. Sheena could not believe the sizes of the woman's axes that she held with the greatest of ease.

"Are you…" Sheena finally managed to add onto her first word before her breath was taken away as her eyes were attracted to the sturdy golden setting below the woman's neck, hugging an Exsphere that was implanted in the woman's body at a young age. "Pre…Presea?"

The woman responded by shifting her intense, beautiful sky blue eyes to Sheena and gave the woman a very delicate smile before the moment was shattered as the anger returned to the eyes of the pink haired warrior and Valemeros emerged from the pile of debris…casually dusting off his robe.

How was it possible that this strong, mature, beautiful woman was the same Presea that Sheena remembered from two years ago? How had she changed so much in such a short time?


	34. A God no more

Chapter 34

_Note: I do regret to inform due to my laptop breaking recently my production rate of chapters has been crippled, I shall try to write more when I get a replacement; please bear with me, those who have enjoyed this story and have been waiting for the continuation. I felt that I should at least conclude the battle before taking my leave as I prepare for my move and such. Enjoy._

The blackness that had consumed Lloyd slowly broke while sounds, although he could not make out what the sounds were exactly, came from the dark shroud of uncertainty. White speckles suddenly danced across the subconscious before the hazy vision was granted back to Lloyd and the first thing that the swordsman became aware of was the fact that his body was overcome with a dull yet unrelenting pain that flared in the edges of every single nerve in his body.

A violent cough left his lungs as he slowly managed to push himself up to support his weight on his elbows while the hazy spots slowly filled the black canvas of his sight and the first thing he could see was a fierce, pink-haired warrior holding two massive axes in her hands as she stood defiantly in front of the overwhelming Valemeros, Sheena was on her knees and he could note that her stamina had been depleted as the purple ninja heaved in deep breaths of recovery.

'_Why…does she…look so familiar?_' Lloyd thought to himself as his eyes went back to the female warrior with a face set in stone, which actually conflicted with the wild emotion he could see in her familiar eyes.

"It takes more than brute strength to defeat someone as ascended as I am." Valemeros chuckled as his casually walked towards the female.

Lloyd watched as the man waved his hands the ground came to life behind the woman, showing déjà-vu for Lloyd as the stone spikes tore from the ground; before Lloyd could call out he noticed the woman spin with uncanny speed as her axe shattered the stone spears of the earth and her other hand placing the axe between herself and the half elven lord as if shielding herself.

The axe she used to shield herself was the one that looked to be made of fine, polished yet severely cracked grey stone with some unknown red gem setting at the head of the axe and that seemed to shimmer to life when the pink haired woman swung the massive weapon.

The movements of the woman were powerful yet surprisingly graceful as she used the momentum of the swing to continue her moves and her feet actually left the ground as her opposing axe acted as a balance and she became a whirling dervish of blades through the air, very similar to Lloyd's Tempest attack except unlike his where he whirled on a vertical attack, her blades stayed horizontal as she whirled towards the noble.

Valemeros lifted the Eternal Sword up as the lightly-green-shaded axe slammed against its surface and Lloyd could see the noble smirk as all the force was stopped effortlessly. The woman let out one more battle cry as she only landed to her feet and swung with the axe in her right hand, the green axe locked with the Eternal Sword, leaving Valemeros open to the attack and for one moment Valemeros eyes went wide before the axe's keen edge slammed into the side of his body; the woman's own body tensed and even trembled for one moment as she stepped into the blow and right before Lloyd's eyes he watched as Valemeros was one again sent hurling through the air with a pained grunt and his body hit the ground and even rolled before he slammed into another pile of rubble.

'_She…is so strong._" Lloyd could not help but comment as he battled to push himself up slowly, rebelling against the flares of pain from his beaten and tattered body, the best he could get to was one knee.

The pink haired warrior crossed the handles of her axes for a moment, catching Lloyd's attention as both axes became consumed in radiant energy, the axe that looked like a stone was overtaken by a red energy that seemed to originate from the red gem stone and the golden borders of the green shaded axe shimmered to life, claiming that axes surface in a golden aura. The duo axes gave a single bright flash as the woman bent her knees and in moments she was high in the air and seemed to even defy gravity, floating there for a moment before she lifted the stone axe high towards the sky, pulling the axe back before she hurled the item directly as the recovering noble as the half-elf pulled himself to his hands and knees before his head jerked to the side one moment too late. The axe hit the prone noble as the red energy exploded violently on contact. Lloyd lifted his hands to cover his eyes from the dirt and debris that flew by him in the air before his head turned to look at the woman once more and she held the green axe with both hands now as her lips parted slightly to show her teeth pressed together as her eyes locked on with intent focus and the woman swung the axe over and over as the golden energy seemed to shoot off the axe with every swing, the golden blades of energy disappearing into the cloud of the explosion and only recreating the deafening sounds of impact before she held the axe high above her head with both hands, twisted her body to the side before using everything she hand to toss the golden axe into the cloud of dust as, the golden axe hit as the radiant energy claimed the dust cloud and lightning every particle with a bright flash before light beams managed to escape the choking dirt…and then finally there was silence.

Speechless, Lloyd was struck speechless as he watched the fierce warrior drop to the ground and landing gracefully on her feet; the woman lifted both hands into the air as the both axes answered her call and flew through the air to return to their rightful owner as the woman gripped onto the handles, spun both axes once before slamming both their heads into the ground at her side as they remained in that spot.

"I…uh…" Lloyd managed to break the eerie silence as the woman's head jerked slightly and her head slowly turned to look over to where Lloyd and he found himself struck to silence once more as expressionless, icy eyes observed the man for a moment and her face…he could read nothing from her face as this moment between them was frozen.

The dark purple vestment she wore fluttered in the remaining wind from the force of the explosion as her pink strands of hair floated in the breeze, her eyes half closed for a moment as she passively analyzed Lloyd. Then something caught the moonlight for just a moment as something glittered just below her neck, some sort of metal she wore above her breasts. The thing Lloyd saw suddenly made him instantly aware of whom this woman was that he was looking at and if it were not for that golden setting he would never have believed it as his eyes went wide for a moment.

"P…Presea?" Lloyd managed to ask through the pain.

The next moment was surreal as he watched Presea's face instantly change to one of uncontrollable happiness, so this what she looked like as a woman and able to expression clear emotions, the sight shocked Lloyd as Presea jumped over her own axe and ran over to Lloyd and it was not until she was one pace away that he snapped out of his moment of daze and the first instinct he felt was to jump out of the way but of what he did not know until he noticed Presea was already jumping at him and before he could even react to what was going on he felt her arms close around his battered body and she was so lost her happiness at seeing Lloyd again, the one who saved her from her cruel fate, that she forgot about her own strength as Lloyd gasped out in a breathless yet agonized manner as Presea squeezed his body close to hers and he swore he could hear ribs cracking and even his spinning contorting in protest to the sudden pressure.

The world flickered black for a moment, all Lloyd could managed to think of besides the pain was the fact that if the woman did not let him go she might actually kill him in her happiness and his body was too wrecked to be able to fight for freedom from the iron grip of her arms.

Lloyd's ears were fading as well as he knew he could hear Presea trying to speak to him as she squeezed him harder in joy but Lloyd also heard a different feminine tone, even though his hearing was hazed he could somehow tell it was Sheena speaking and Lloyd could only hope that the purple ninja could save him from his demise of being crushed to death because the pink-haired warrior forgot just how much physically stronger she was compared to the average warrior.

Blackness speckled with white dominated his sight for a moment before he suddenly felt awkwardly fuzzy, circulation was returning to his body and his ribs were no longer pressing into his organs anymore, but the crushing sensation left him limp in her airs as his head bobbled for a moment as his glazed eyes managed to look to Presea as she looked to him with worried, watered eyes. Sheena's hand was on Presea's shoulder, showing Lloyd the hand of his savior from overzealous woman.

"Oh Lloyd I am so sorry!" Presea suddenly screamed and once more he felt the crushing pressure on his body, she got so lost in her emotion of feeling sorry for crushing him that she held him even tighter than before as his lips parted in a pathetic squeak while he felt every vertebrae grind as they rubbed together from her blow and before Lloyd was welcomed back to the world of feeling nothing anymore he could make out Sheena suddenly screaming in worried protest for Presea to stop.

In seconds the woman let Lloyd go again but this time it was due to a different reason as Lloyd felt his vision battle against the blackness, every speckle of white slowly becoming bigger and bigger as his hazed vision allowed him to catch a glimpse of the wide-eyed pink beauty still holding him in her hands but no longer crushing him in embrace as her head slowly turned. Lloyd grunted once before his head rolled to the side to see what everyone was looking at and the sight was enough to push as pain out the window as his eyes went wide and the foreign feeling of doubt entered his heard.

A silhouette of a man emerged from the cloud of dust, a pair of glowing royal purple eyes penetrated the thick cloud before the figure stepped out, dusting off his robe once more as his feet crunched against the debris on the ground.

"Not…possible," Sheena stammered as her hand slowly left Presea's shoulder.

"Sheena…look after Lloyd." Presea spoke out, her tone once more returning to an emotionless, monotone sound as he felt her fingers leave his shoulders and gravity almost kicked as Lloyd felt his body start to fall back; however the impact of his back against Sheena's body stopped him as the ninja supported his weight and one arm actually slipped over his shoulder to cross over his chest in a protective manner.

Valemeros's robe was torn, battered, and even a chuck of the fabric on his shoulder was missing as he seemed to assess himself, dusting off the surface in vain as he seemed to be more concerned about his appearance than Lloyd, Sheena, and Presea.

"Now…I am irritated." Valemeros casually stated with a tone of voice that betrayed his claim.

Lloyd could only watch as Presea walked over to both her axes, pulling them out of the ground as she rested the green axe with golden borders on her shoulder and then pointed the stone axe towards her opponent. The air around the pink haired warrior went back to a calm and focused feel as the eyes of the woman never left Valemeros while the noble continued to assess his torn robes.

"I would never have expected a striking rose such as you to hide such thorns." Valemeros chuckled out like he was more amused by the concept of her fight than threatened. "Come…surely that cannot be all that you got." Valemeros stated in a challenge as his glowing eyes lifted from his robes to Presea.

Lloyd felt himself grip the hilts of his swords for a moment, he knew they were shattered but for some explained reason they started emitting energy and grew into glowing swords that could repel the Eternal Sword's edge. The arm over his chest tightened for a moment as Sheena pressed Lloyd against her in protest…she worried for him and the condition she was in but Lloyd could not help but worry about the danger that Presea was in; that did not mean he did not understand Sheena's worry, they both were beaten down and the rest of his friends laid around him recover, Raine was unconscious against one of the bigger stones laying on the ground and from the way she laid against it's surface suggested that she was caught in the blast from Presea and sent flying back.

Raine, Colette, Genis…all three of them fought against Valemeros and gave their all only to be taken out of the fight so quickly by the half-elf driven mad with power. Raine had healed both Lloyd and Sheena but even through the healing arts Lloyd still felt the fatigue and wear that the duo of Cecil and Monique punished them both in their fight and now the two clung to threads of life.

The two of their former adversaries laid on the ground as well but to Lloyd's surprise it seemed that both of them were actually breathing a little more stability, Raine must have been able to heal them just enough to get out of danger yet not bring them back to consciousness for fear of their joined efforts with Valemeros and Raine must have healed them when they all combined their efforts on Valemeros, only to have their attacks shrugged off.

A war cry filled the air as Lloyd turned his eyes from Cecil and Monique to the charging Presea as she quickly closed the distance and Lloyd could only feel every muscle in his body tense in protest to the fact that all he was able to do at the moment was watch someone else put their life on the line for him and fight his battle; it felt wrong to Lloyd on every single level that he was not joining Presea in her fight with Valemeros.

Sparks of energy flew off the Eternal Sword as it blocked and parried every single combination blow that Presea was throwing at him, she even jumped back for a moment and slammed both axes into the ground that caused the earth to come to life and a trail of earthen spikes to tear through the ground and try to engulf Valemeros, but the spikes shattered against the thick energy that swirled around the half-elf. Valemeros lifted a hand as a dark sphere consumed Presea, the same sphere that took Colette but this time it was different as Presea lifted the stone axe and the dark matter seemed to be sucked into the red gem.

"What is this?" Valemeros blinks waving his hand once.

The air rippled around Presea for a moment before the red gem gave off another shimmer and Valemeros blinked once in surprise. Lloyd had no way of knowing for sure but he could swear that Valemeros was trying to control Presea's body through the water in her just as he did to Lloyd and yet that mysterious red gem seemed to siphon energy. Valemeros then frowned for a moment as he pushed off his foot, his body floating towards Presea as his lifted the Eternal Sword for a swing just as Presea prepared to dodge the strike. The Eternal Sword fell down towards the pink-haired warrior and Presea lifted her golden-bordered axe to block while wasting no time to sweep with her other axe at his body in counter-strike but she was caught by surprise as the axe tore through Valemeros effortlessly and his body rippled into shadows as his form returned back to the darkness of illusion.

Lloyd's eyes went wide as Valemeros stepped out from the shroud of thin air behind Presea and before the woman could even turn around to face her threat she found her body incapable of moving. Lloyd shifted in Sheena's arms and this time he found Sheena holding onto him tighter for a moment as she seemed to be surprised by this deceptive tactic from Valemeros that tricked not only Presea but the both of them.

Presea grunted as she tried to regain control of her body but Valemeros had his hand raised as if he had attached invisible strings to her body and his fingers moved as Presea was lifted into the air and then slowly spun around to face him, Valemeros looked to each of her hands as they obeyed his unspoken commands and Presea was forced to drop her axes.

"Don't bother…physical strength will not break the control I have over you, lovely warrior." Valemeros cooed in amusement while he stepped closer to her and dared to place his fingers on her chin. "Now tell me…where…did you…" Valemeros's fingers slowly slide down her skin until his index and middle finger rested on her Exsphere, "get this little gem?" Valemeros completed.

"I'm not going to tell you anything." Presea spoke out in a course tone that implied she was still trying to overpower the control he had over her now.

"No…this is no regular Exsphere….I see…you are like me." Valemeros spoke, more to himself then to Presea as his eyes shifted to the side in thought. "Rodale…how many like us to you make? How many undiscovered…unknown Exsphere's exist?" Valemeros seemed to be genuinely agitated before his shoulders gave a shrug and he looked back to Presea. "No matter, there shall be one less that I will need to worry about." Valemeros chuckled as he stepped back and raised a hand to her chest.

One could have sworn they heard Presea's heartbeat thump once loudly in her chest as if responding to Valemeros's unspoken commands and just like Presea started to gargle as water soon spilled from her mouth and her calm expression actually shattered as her eyes widened in a primal fear of drowning as her body jerked under protest but still in vain.

"I am never one to take any chances…any possible threat to me dies without discrimination." Valemeros stated in a low, dark tone while his face went from a smirk to an intent glare with a frown while his hand slowly closed, making the water levels flood Presea's body even more.

Lloyd could not just sit there any more, one of his friends were suffering before his eyes and he was helplessly sitting on the ground. An explosion of energy erupted from deep inside him as he painfully gripped the hilts of his shattered swords tight and suddenly pushed himself to his feet, easily breaking the hold that Sheena had on him as he darted across the ground and he could feel the swords come to life once more as the glowing blades came to life in his hands.

"Stop it!" Lloyd screamed while he ran towards the noble, his eyes focused on Valemeros's arm, the arm that was controlling his hold over Presea and channeling the water inside her lungs. The fear that Lloyd felt in the air from his friend seemed to fuel his anger; it felt like he was gaining strength from Presea's fear, as strange as it seemed. Valemeros's gaze glanced over to look at Lloyd and the sight of Valemeros's eyes actually surprised Lloyd when he saw them and seemed to fill him with a form of confidence as he ignored the gaze and focused on his arm once more.

"Humans…never learn." Valemeros sighed out.

Lloyd did his best to focus everything he hand in one attack as he slashed down at the arm of the elven noble and his sword made solid contact, for one moment he felt the fear return of his sword bouncing off harmlessly like it had done before; this time however the impact was absorbed only so much as the feeling of the edge sinking into the arm of the noble was Lloyd's rewards for his effort as a scream filled the air and Presea's body dropped to the ground as she landed on all fours, coughing out violent as she choked on the water in her lungs. Lloyd did not hesitate one moment as he tightened his hold on the purple bladed sword and pulled it back to stab for the noble's chest, only to just graze across his ribs as Valemeros jumped back out of harm's way and Lloyd knew that Valemeros realized that he could be hurt out as blood trickled in the air from the glancing slash across his rib cage, the swords cut his robes effortlessly.

"Wh—what is this?" Valemeros grunted out as he held onto his bleeding forearm while his hand went limp, giving a slight nerve twitch now and then.

Lloyd mustered up any and all remaining strength he could get as he looked over his shoulder and as if feeding off his strength, Sheena stepped in beside Lloyd and seemed to be empowered by his presence and resolve as she looked to Lloyd and nodded her head. Lloyd could not help but smile for a moment before his eyes went back to Valemeros with a frown marking his face as he looked at the man responsible for so much suffering, loss of innocent life, and deceptions.

"Verius was right…your surge of energy would only last so long, Valemeros." Lloyd called out as he pointed at the noble with his sword. "You're eyes told me everything I needed to know…they are less…radiant." Lloyd firmed out.

Valemeros slowly raised a now bloody hand to his cheek as he seemed to even realize that his eyes were no longer glowing, the glow had faded and he had lost his godly status, every breath he took he realized was no different than Lloyd's…he breathed out air just like every other living being, no longer breathing on the sweet scent of mana that choked others around him. The mana that once swirled his body, wild and uncontrolled like a tornado had turned to vapors…he was mortal again.

"Lloyd…Verius also said Valemeros might feel drained after his surge was done." Sheena whispered to him as Lloyd gave a nod.

"I can tell…I can feel that his power has dropped down, he is fatigued…worn." Lloyd narrowed his eyes at the man he currently despised, noting the sheen of sweat across the noble's forehead to prove Sheena's statement true.

Valemeros was for a short moment a god and a god needs a high consumption of mana to exist in a material form, now that Valemeros was back on ground level his once godly body was worn, battered, and used from expending and consuming so much mana, Lloyd doubted the noble even had the focus to call upon his bond with the summon spirits.

"It is over, Valemeros." Lloyd confronted, making the noble's eyes go wide for a moment before they narrowed in pure disgust.

"At the hands of a human?" Valemeros sneered while staring at Lloyd in disbelief.

Lloyd nodded once before he charged at the weakened half-elf, his eyes caught sight of seals flying through the air as four seals latched onto the sides of his red sword and Lloyd knew Sheen was with him and that this time they both would bring Valemeros down…together.

"Never shall a human beat me!" Valemeros screamed suddenly as his body tensed and he flung both his arms to the side, a whirlwind of dust kicking up as the noble summoned up the last bits of his mana to create a smokescreen that caused Lloyd to freeze in his tracks and cover his eyes from the particles of dirt that hit his face. The smokescreen cleared and Valemeros was gone, instinctively looking up towards the sky he saw Valemeros hovering in the air, surrounded by a sphere of wind…seemed he still had the energy to summon Sylph for an escape.

"Like I said…I never leave a threat alive, I am never that reckless." Valemeros called out in a furious tone while he stretched his hand out and the Eternal Sword which he dropped earlier returned to his hand. "I shall return you all to a state where even matter did not exist." Valemeros growled up as he lifted the sword high.

Mana thickened once more as it seemed to be drawn to the Eternal Sword, making it flicker to life as the sword sparked a couple of times before a beam of light shot out from the tip of the sword and mana only continued to be vacuumed to the blade, energy now swirling around the beam of light as the energy grew in mass and Lloyd knew exactly what this was.

'_Nowhere to run…he is going to use Extinction, even though he is as weakened as he is._' Lloyd felt his body tense as he looked around for a moment. "Sheena, we need to gather everyone…Valemeros is going to blow this island and he will probably even take half of Exire with him." Lloyd called out in a mixture of desperation and anger that Valemeros would risk destroying Exire, killing countless innocent lives in his attempt to destroy them all.

"L…Lord Valemeros!" the scream of Monique caught Lloyd's ears as he looked over to see Monique pulling herself to her knees, looking up to Valemeros with fear obvious in her eyes. "Don't forget about us…take us with you!" Monique called out in dismay.

Valemeros glanced to Monique, dismissing her as his eyes left her to look up to the sword, only focusing even more as the pillar of mana grew.

"Monique…you have to get off here, Valemeros is going to blow this entire island." Lloyd called out as he leaned down to help Presea to her feet, linking an arm around her body while the woman coughed wetly still but no more water came out, it did not erase how worn her body was from nearly drowning.

"He…he would never…do such a thing." Monique spoke out in a shaky tone as she placed a hand to over her heart while looking up to Valemeros in fear. "Lord Valemeros…loves Exire with all his…" Monique swallowed hard while lowering her head before screaming out. "Valemeros! Don't leave me behind! I'm sorry…I'm sorry I failed…give us another chance! Please!"

Lloyd could not help but feel sorry for the two, but it seemed to him that the two of them might as well be better off dead to the noble because the man was not stopping and the pillar of mana was almost at its peak and if he dropped that pillar down it will not only destroy the island but it would probably tear Exire in half and the city of the half-elves would join the ocean.

Time was not on their side and Lloyd did not know how they were even going to survive this time as he ran over after Presea was able to stand on her own and he carefully picked the professor up and carried her to the others only to stop as he looked to Monique who was trembling while battling herself in her mind.

"Monique!" Lloyd called out, he knew that she and Cecil where their enemies but he could not bear to leave either of them behind to die, not without trying to do something. The woman did not respond as Lloyd pressed his teeth together before repositioning Raine so he could carry her over his shoulder and then reaching out to grab Monique by the arm, pulling her with him as he ran to the edge of the island where the others were, Sheena and Presea had collected the unconscious Genis and Colette.

"Presea! Get Cecil!" Lloyd yelled out.

Presea blinked once as she looked over Lloyd's shoulder and spotted the downed warrior, giving a nod as the woman ran passed Lloyd and the pink-haired woman was out of his sight.

"I can't leave him!" Monique suddenly called out as she pulled against Lloyd's grip, only making him grip her harder to prevent her from running towards her elven lord intent of destroying the island, she would be running to her death and Lloyd could not let someone do that.

"Monique…we all need to keep moving, we have to find a way to survive."

"Not without Valemeros!" Monique cried out as her head snapped to glare at Lloyd in anger, it surprised Lloyd at first to be fed such a glare as he saw the mixture of anger, fear, and hurt in her eyes. "Let me go!" Monique screamed.

"I can't let you just die!" Lloyd called out.

"My life doesn't matter if it is a life without Valemeros! Let go!" Monique tried hitting Lloyd's shoulder but her sorrow robbed her of all strength to hurt him as she tried pulling against the hold.

"How can you toss your life away so easily? You have to live…I can't just stand by and let someone die in front of me when I can do something." Lloyd fought against Monique as he pulled her slowly towards the group against her will.

"Extinction!" Valemeros voice called out and Lloyd felt his breath catch in his throat.

He was too late; the world was consumed in a bright flash of white as the pillar of Extinction dropped on the island.

Blackness, the world was nothing but blackness for Lloyd. He could see nothing, hear nothing, and do nothing...this is what it was like to be taken to a world where matter did not exist. Lloyd could not even be sure if he was even thinking thoughts…it was all blackness.

"….o…d…"

What could that have been then, Lloyd was left to wonder in the world of forever darkness.

"….ak…p…..L….yd…."

'_This…cannot be a world where matter does not exist, where am I?_' Lloyd wondered.

"Wake up."

The sudden crystal clear voice made Lloyd wake with a violent gasp as his eyes opened wide and the first thing he saw was Sheena looking over him, worry quickly disappeared to tears of relief as she breathed out slowly.

"Whe…where are we?" Lloyd coughed out as Sheena raised him to a sitting position.

"Valemeros didn't hit the island completely." Presea commented as she stood at the edge what remained of the floating island they once did battle on and where the manner was.

"Be careful, Lloyd…do not move too much." Sheena whispered close to him as she supported his back while he pushed himself to a sit.

"How…" Lloyd placed a hand to his forehead as he battled fatigue. "How did I survive? Last thing I remember is…is…Monique…where is she?" Lloyd suddenly exclaimed as his eyes went wide. "And the Professor…are they—"

"They are both fine, you took a huge tumble when you jumped at the last minute…that attack barely missed you but the force must have sent you to the ground hard and you hit your head." Sheena informed as she gestured to the unconscious form of Monique and Raine on the ground as well.

"Valemeros! Where is?" Lloyd grunted in a cross of fatigue and anger.

"Here he comes." Presea stated, her monotone voice returning as she pulled her axes off her back.

Lloyd groaned while he managed to push himself to his feet with Sheena's support, his head turning to notice Valemeros floating down towards the piece of the island still remaining. Lloyd's eyes also glanced down and there he noticed a pit in the ocean now, water was funneling into the abyssal hole that Extinction had left as water spilled in to try to fill the void.

"Still alive…You all are truly aggravating." Valemeros growled out as he folded his arms over his chest while wind continued to swirl around his body.

"Then come down here and try to finish your promise…remember you never leave a threat alive?" Lloyd challenged as he pulled himself off of Sheena, using her as a support to stand, drawing both his swords as the broken blades came to life and the glowing duo burned to life once more.

"Heh." Valemeros scoffed as he raised his left hand, uncrossing his arms made his wounded right arm drop to his side as blood was still soaking into the torn robe and glove.

Monique moaned softly as Lloyd glanced over and saw her eyes flutter open for a moment and her slender figure rose from the ground as she brought a hand to her head painfully.

"I intend to do such!" Valemeros suddenly exclaimed as he opened his hand in front of him and a sudden gust of powerful wings slammed against the island, catching Lloyd's attention as his feet threatened to lift off the island and he knew what Valemeros was intending to do, toss them off the island to be sucked up into the void in the ocean and buried under the weight of the falling ocean.

Lloyd grunted as he endured the winds and crossed the swords over his body as if such a gesture would aid in breaking the violent torrent of wind.

"LLOYD!" Sheena called out to gain as attention as his head snapped to the side and Lloyd noticed Sheena actually run with the wind, the sight scared him as he twisted his body but then saw as she dug her feet into the grab and her arms latched onto the unconscious Colette.

'_Our friends!_' Lloyd's mind screamed, even if Valemeros could not send them over the edge with the winds the prone bodies of their friends would perish into the ocean.

Lloyd turned around and ran down the dirt path as he spotted the body of Genis sliding along the ground, getting dangerously close to the edge as he desperately dove forward, submitting his body to the wind as the force tossed him forward, Lloyd had to time it just perfectly as he waited until his body passed by Genius's before slamming both his swords into the ground in front of the half-elven child and his body was caught against the blunt sides of Lloyd's swords as Lloyd battled to pull his body back to the ground. Presea had managed to slam her axe in front of Cecil, her axe being big enough to shield both Cecil from being wiped away while using her other axe to shield Raine from being carried away as well.

A scream filled the air as Lloyd's head twisted over to spot Monique being bragged along the ground and Sheena could not use her seals, the violent winds would toss her seals harmlessly away, Presea was too far away and Lloyd could only painfully watch as time slowed down for him, watching as Monique's form was tossed over the side of the island.

Anger welled up inside Lloyd as his eyes closed for a moment before glaring towards Valemeros, the gale winds came to a stop as the noble seemed to stumble in his wind dome and he placed his left hand to his chest to catch his breath; the focus was spending what was left of his strength and his eyes locked on Lloyd only showed him that the noble despised the fact that Lloyd survived that last effort.

"More resilient than I thought…you humans." Valemeros huffed out as the winded dome started to lift up towards the sky. "I can assure you one thing however, my strength shall return…while your numbers continue to dwindle…I shall not be stopped." Valemeros sneered in disgust.

-Scene Change-

Monique grunted as she clung to the edge of the cliff, she was too far down to be able to reach the edge of the cliff and pull herself up and she knew it. Her grip would not last long on the rough edge and she knew something she could do to try and climb up to the top and rejoin with Valemeros. Closing her eyes for a moment she dropped her right hand, making her left arm shaky at supporting all her weight through her already drained body as she managed to focus enough and make her golden staff appear in her hand; with a deep breath, Monique grunted once and slammed the end of the staff into the side of the cliff, embedding the rod into the side and then shifting herself to hold onto her staff; it was easier to support herself than hanging on the edge of a cliff.

'_Forgive me…Valemeros…please wait for me, I'm coming back._' Monique thought to herself as she tried to pull herself up onto to her own staff, hooking her right arm over the staff before breathing out exhausted.

Her green eyes widened for a moment as she looked up to see Valemeros hovering into her sight but not to come towards her, he was hovering higher into the sky to make his retreat. Her heart hammered in her chest as she felt the anxiety fill her body of being left behind, maybe he thought she was lost when she was thrown off the cliff, she had to let him know that she was still alive and that she needed him…she wanted to be with him.

"Vale…Vale…meros…" Monique choked out in a whisper as she raised her right hand towards him. "Vale…" she tried to call out but her voice still lacked volume and her desperation only grew as panicked entered her heart. "Vale…Va…Valemeros!" Monique managed to scream.

She screamed out his name a couple more times as her green eyes filled with tears, she was hoping with all her heart that he could hear her and when he did…he would come to her, save her and take her with him…like he always did.

Her fears were pushed to the side when she noticed his head turn to her direction and a small, overjoyed smile slide onto her face as tears slide down her cheeks of happiness as she reached out towards him.

"Don't…don't forget me, Valemeros." Monique whispered as she kicked her feet to try and pull herself onto the staff as she saw his royal eyes lock on hers. "Please…help…" Monique whimpered softly while continuing to reach out to him.

Her heart thundered in her chest when she noticed his eyes leave hers and look towards the sky as a portal of shadow opened and he continued to hover towards the portal.

"Valemeros! VALEMEROS!" Monique screamed in fear and sorrow as she tried her best to pull herself onto the golden staff, like it would make him notice her again and he would come and sweep her in the safety of his arms. Her screams seemed to fall on deaf ears and right before her eyes…Valemeros was gone, swallowed up in the dark portal as it came to a close…he had left her behind.

"Va…le…meros…" Monique tearfully whimpered as her right hand slowly dropped, tears welled up in her eyes as her mind and heart painfully came to terms with what had just happened; Valemeros, her lord…her life…her love had left her die.

'I'm…so…sorry I failed…my love.' Monique sorrowfully thought as her heart shattered deep in her chest.

There was nothing more for her now…nothing but one last thing to do.

Monique left go of the golden staff as she allowed herself to fall.


	35. The villain's start

Chapter 35

_My final chapter before my move, this is a rare chapter where normally it would be based from Sheena's point-of-view it is being based from Cecil, I do hope you enjoy the chapter and it has come to my attention my last chapter, the conclusion of the fight between Valemeros and the party did not send an e-mail notification so if you are one of those, be warned you may need to read the previous chapter so it does not look like I cut the fight off mid-way. Haha._

The vision of the man's surroundings was hazy at best as his senses tried to comprehend too much at once, activating his sight, sound, smell, and even the feel of the environment around him was too much to recover into and due to such, a groan erupted from his lips.

Muscles screamed in his body as his memory flushed back to the last thing he could remember, his arms shaking while he pushed himself off the soft surface that he could only assume was the surface of a bed.

-Flashback-

'_I will not let them…near Valemeros…if my sacrifice can save him then my existence shall not be in vain._' Cecil thought to himself as he slowly raised his sword towards the skies, muttering the words that would lead into an attack he was unsure he even had the mana inside to use but he knew he would use up the mana that composed his body if he had to. "My sword that protects a cause higher than myself, release your fury!" Cecil screamed, the pressure on his throat made him cough out the words as he ignored the words of his enemy while he felt the muscles tense in his body; his sword was siphoning the mana in his body to draw upon his last attack…his last effort. 'At least I shall not…be alone…I shall keep you company on the other side, sister…we will wait for Valemeros together.'

With a wave of agony washing over his body as he felt his muscles tear under the demand of mana for the final attack, Cecil only narrowed his eyes to focus while his body was strained beyond its physical limits. Cecil's eyes went wide as the sword in his hand flickered and displaced him right in front of his enemy's, a technique that no opponent worthy of his final attack had yet to be able to avoid as he let the mana in body explode out into a violent torrent of energy that melded perfectly with Monique's attack and he knew would rend through the bodies of his enemy.

'_Even…if…some…how_' Cecil though in agony as the few seconds he focused the attack seemed to stretch through the space of eternity. 'They survive…Valemeros…will finish them…off.'

After the energy faded, Cecil was granted a split moment of feeling nothing, light as a cloud and it almost felt like a form of bliss before reality came crashing down on every nerve of his body as his legs turned to rubber. Cecil thought he was gripping his sword as hard as he could not but he knew he was actually gripping to try and keep himself up and that grip was failing while he felt the energy of his life force slowly shatter in his body.

"Forgive…me…" Cecil heard his sister whimper out.

'Do not…be…afraid, sister…I am not long for this world either.'

"Lord…" Cecil tried to speak but ever word that came out of his lips seemed to shred his body, every breath expanded a rib cage that felt like was broke right down the middle of his sternum. He could not help it anymore, his fingers slipped from the hilt of his sword and the weight of the plate he wore was too much to hold up anymore as he crashed to ground, if he did not know any better he swore that he felt every rib bone puncture some organ in his chest. "Val…e…" the claw of blackness washed over his eyes and he knew the moment of his demise had come and he had welcomed it for he died fighting for something…for someone he believed in…an honorable…noble death.

-End of flashback-

'I…I'm still alive? How…how can this be?' Cecil thought as he pressed a hand to his face, an overwhelming headache washing over his head.

"I would be very careful if I were you." A female voice called out, one he had not heard before as his eyes suddenly went wide for a moment and he whipped his head to the source.

"Urg!" Cecil grunted in agony the moment his head snapped and his muscles protested in the most violent and painful manner.

"I told you." The woman added while giving out an after statement sigh.

The woman he saw had her own beauty to her in a more calm yet stern manner as she lowered the text book to rest on her lap, her white strands of hair seemed a little disheveled but in an alluring way as her almost cold faint blue eyes observed the man with a keen interest as well as alert, she let him know that she was on guard if he tried anything. He could not blame her for being on guard; he was dressed like a Design in plate.

"How…how did?" Cecil grunted in agony as he pressed his palm back to his forehead like the pressure would somehow remove the throbbing pain.

His response from the woman was another exasperated sigh as she shifted in her chair, his right eye glancing to the woman the moment she moved but saw she was only crossing one leg over the other and placing the palm of her hand against the side of her lower chin as if looking perplexed for a moment. "You have me to thank for your recovery but you should save it to the one who convinced me to save the both of you…Lloyd." The woman shrugged once before her calm blue eyes looked over to him. "That boy never changes…but…I don't mind, I trust his instincts now." She confessed while keeping her eyes locked on Cecil, it sort of unnerved him to be under watch but he understood what was happening now.

"I see…prisoner of war conditions now, you all are going to want information from me…well let me spare you all the time and tell you that Lord Valemeros told me nothing of his plans." Cecil snapped slightly, he breathed in deep to continue his statement before he found himself silenced by the woman as she raised her hand and closed her eyes while shaking her head.

"Lloyd is different…he saved you both because he wanted to…he is not the type to interrogate anyone, it is one of his many charms." She causally stated while lifting her text book again to observe the words on the page.

"…both? Monique! Where is she?" Cecil felt his mind suddenly comprehended the fact she had said it was not just him that was saved.

The woman raised a hand to the bed opposite of the room and Cecil's eyes darted to the corner as he saw Monique's body laying there on the bed. A second wind came over him as he slide right out of bed, making the woman's eyes shift to him as he noticed for a moment her hand grabbed the staff she had resting against her chair but he ignored her and staggered and crawled over to Monique's bed and pulled himself up to the side of her bed.

'_Monique…_' Cecil felt his mind state with a feeling of sorrow to follow the name.

"Why even save us at all?" Cecil asked coldly before looking over to the white haired woman as he watched her lower her text book and arch her eyebrows in slight surprise.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Would you rather of died?"

"I would have wished it." Cecil bitterly stated before looking back to Monique and he instantly knew what pain and sorrow she must be going through. '_I am…sorry you have to endure this, sister._' Cecil closed his eyes as he grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. 'I'm here for you…and I promise…I promise I will stop you pain and bring you back to Valemeros.'

-Later that night-

Cecil did not care that there was silence between him and the woman who sat in her chair and read from her book, in fact he preferred it as he stared out of the window in an effort to pinpoint where they where and the only thing he could determine was they were in one of the villages in the Tethe'alla lands that were not listed on the maps.

"I see you are recovering…that's…good." Cecil heard a voice behind him, a hesitate voice that he instantly recognized as Lloyd's voice.

"Why?" Cecil felt his muscles tense for a moment as he turned his head to look over his shoulder, spotting Lloyd and Sheena standing near the door entrance as they both entered. "Why…" Cecil tried to control his emotions and keep them check but then his eyes caught the sight of Monique and everything exploded on the inside as his turned on his heel and felt his voice take on a biting tone. "Why did you save us?" Cecil snapped out, catching both the swordsman and ninja off guard as Lloyd took a step back and blinked in surprise.

"Wh—what?" Lloyd asked the man.

"You must really despise us." Cecil snarled for a moment as he stepped forward, seeing the woman shift in her seat but Lloyd glanced to the side at the woman and shook his head for a moment.

"What do you mean? You think I could just stand by and let you two die in front of my eyes?" Lloyd asked.

"It would have been far more humane of you." Cecil snapped back, how he wished he had his sword with him so he could exact his revenge but that was not an option for the time being.

"How can you say that? How can you take your life so lightly?" Lloyd demanded.

"You don't get it…do you?" Cecil stepped closer to Lloyd as he noticed Sheena behind him was reaching into her tunic only to have Lloyd grab her forearm lightly.

"Maybe I don't…and I won't understand unless you tell me how you can put such small value on your own life." Lloyd confronted.

"How did we survive? I know that woman over there…"

"Her name is Raine." Lloyd stated defensively.

"Has little importance to me right now." Cecil frowned as he kept his eyes locked on Lloyd. "I know she healed our wounds but how did we make it here?"

"You both almost did not make it." Lloyd confronted as he waved one arm to the side. "Your Lord almost killed you both with one of his attacks and then Monique was almost tossed into the ocean if it had not been for Sheena…Sheena risked her life when she jumped over the side of the cliff and caught Monique…it took both Presea and me to pull both Sheena and Monique back to safety."

"Your lord does not care about either of you anymore; Monique was screaming out his name and he did not even respond and left you both to die…Monique lost her grip on the cliffs edge." Sheena stated after Lloyd as she placed a hand carefully on Lloyd's shoulder.

"Even if what you say is true…then she did not slip, Monique let go and you saving her…with that image of Lord Valemeros as being her last memory of him…you have just punished her to live a life worse than any death imaginable." Cecil responded, the anger in his tone was fading due to being replaced with a tone of sorrow for Monique and what she must now endure.

"Didn't you hear us? That bastard does not care about either of you anymore…he used you both for his own ends and discarded you…he was even willing to kill you both for the sake of trying to kill us. I couldn't just sit by and let that happen to you both."

"You make it sound like we are victims." Cecil scoffed for a moment as he walked back over to Monique, walking passed Lloyd and Sheena. '_We are not the victims…Valemeros is_.' Cecil thought for a moment as he looked down at the sleeping form of Monique.

"Why does she…care for Valemeros so much?" Sheena suddenly asked, making Cecil glance over his shoulder for a moment. "Why is her living with the memory that he abandoned her going to torment her more than death?"

"Like I said…you don't understand what you have done." Cecil replied coldly.

"Then make us….please." Sheena asked while biting her lip for a moment.

'…_not like it will matter if they know or not._' Cecil shrugged once and then gestured towards the sleeping form of his sister. "Not sure if you ever noticed but Monique wears a long, thin-chained necklace that is actually easy to conceal in her dress." Cecil leaned over Monique and placed a hand to the side of her neck, trailing a finger across the skin to find the thing silver chain before tugging it enough. "This chain here and at the end of this chain." Cecil gestured towards the woman's chest implying it was probably underneath her dress somewhere around her cleavage area. "…is…" Cecil was having a hard time confessing the next part as he closed his eyes for a moment and just let the words slip out. "…her wedding band, Lord Valemeros and Monique are…" Cecil breathed out and shook his head for a moment.

The silence in the room, the same silence that Cecil did not mind was now torturing him as he slowly opened his eyes and looked over to Sheena and Lloyd, the female part of the duo had her eyes half closed as she looked to the side, her hand closed in a light fist over her heart as she battled with that information and Lloyd appeared to be keeping a neutral expression.

"That's right…before all this happened, they were illegitimately married, pledged to one another and now she has had to endure the sight of the one she vowed her life to…leave her behind and your so-called act of mercy will just let Monique's heart slowly die out before she cannot bear living anymore." Cecil felt the jaw muscles tense painfully.

"How could he leave her behind?" Sheena whispered.

"The way you speak…you make it sound like we have been the ones that have been victimized." Cecil actually gave a single scoffing chuckle for a moment as he folded his arms. "You couldn't be further from the truth…we are not brainwashed, we are not enchanted or whatever else you think…if anyone is the victim here it is Lord Valemeros and I vowed to stand by him no matter what…to whatever end." Cecil glanced over his shoulder to Monique. "I vowed to one day see my sister happy…forever."

"What do you mean? How is Valemeros the victim in all this? He has killed so many innocent lives and I know he is only going to kill more…what he is doing is wrong." Lloyd spoke out as his emotion came out in the tone of his voice, the idealist that many had come to know Lloyd to be.

"You think Valemeros was always like this?" Cecil snapped defensively; because to him, Lloyd was insulting Valemeros and there was no way he would tolerate anyone disgracing his image. "You would be wrong if you for one moment thought that is all Valemeros is like." Cecil hissed for a moment before shaking his head. '_At least without even asking I know that Lord Valemeros is still alive…and if he was using attacks like this Lloyd states then he has recover_.' Cecil let out a sigh as he gave a faint smile. '_Good…_'

"Valemeros…he was…" Cecil walked across the window as he looked out to the streets again. "The only man deserving of the title noble among the nobles of Tethe'alla." Cecil confessed before looking at Lloyd and Sheena in the reflection of the window. "Before you judge the man so harshly…let me tell you how Valemeros was." Cecil also held a secret hope that if he told them how Valemeros was that maybe, just maybe they would leave him alone.

-Cecil's Story-

"I'm hungry though." The little girl whined softly as the slight older boy sighed as the two of them walked through a dark alley way.

"It is too risky to steal food during this time of the day, you know that…humans kill any of our kind if we are found on the streets." The boy replied in a slightly scolding manner.

"Stupid humans." The girl whined as she sat down and folded her arms tightly and gave a pout.

"We can't stop now…we're too close to the streets, what if those knights catch us?" the dark haired boy urged.

"I don't care…I'm hungry now! I want food!" the girl complained.

"Shh…shh…"

"I WANT FOOD!"

"Alright…alright…shh!" the boy flustered.

It all happened so fast, the next thing the boy knew the two of them were running for their lives as a crowd of humans chased after them, saying some of the most foulest things he had ever heard in his life and throwing stones the two of them as the half-elf hunt began. One stone caught the knee of the little girl as she screamed out and fell to the ground in tears; the boy quickly reached down to try and pick the little girl back up but she only cried more from the pain and he had no chance but the try and carry her…it would not work, the crowd of humans were catching up to them and all the boy could do was carry the girl next to a wall, standing in front of her as a shield while the humans slowly closed around the both of them, keeping a distance like the two little children were infected yet sealing off any way either of them could escape.

The boy fought back tears of fear as he extended his arms to further his attempt to shield the girl behind him while managing to give an aggressive expression as if clinging to some hope it would scare the crowd of humans away from the both of them.

"Disgusting half-elves!" one of the humans snarled.

"It was these two disgusting things! They stole from my stand!" the vendor yelled, raising the ire of the masses.

"I say we call the guards. Get their putrid bodies off the streets!" another voice screamed out, rising more screams from the crowd.

"No! I say we deal with this." One of the women wailed.

His sight was clouded over in seconds as the first stone was cast and it hit his shoulder hard, holding back a pained yelp before another stone was thrown and this one hitting him right at the boy's head as he staggered and the heated blood leaked down the side of his face and the only thing he could see besides a thick, red screen of blood were the angry faces along with dulled screams, the rock that hit him in the head had dulled all the senses of his body and he could not make anything out. The boy's body could only react as the rocks bounced off his form and suddenly his weight became too much for one of his knees as it buckled and his knee pounded against the pavement, sending a fork of lightning up all the nerves of his leg.

The stones suddenly stopped and he could swear he heard the voice of someone calling out, closing one bloodied eye he looked up slowly to see the back of a young man which appeared to be a noble but such could not be possible, nobles never come down to the slums district of Mel'tokio. The only thing that the boy could see was the noble glancing over his shoulder and giving the little boy a reassuring and comforting smile, it was too surreal a moment to be truly happening.

"—what are their names?" those words suddenly rang loudly in Cecil's ears as he even flinched for a moment.

"Cecil…and Monique." The young well-dressed man stated.

'…_Ce…Cecil?_' the little boy thought, he was never given a name up until that day and the concept of being called Cecil was overwhelming, the only thing he ever answered to was being called brother by the little girl he only knew as sister, not related by blood by bound together by fate.

The feeling of leather gloved hands resting on the top of his head snapped him out of the brief thought of being named Cecil as his eye widened in bewilderment and he looked up to the young man, the energy of the warm, caring smile the young man had gave Cecil a strange sense of protection and reassurance as his eye watered for a moment.

"Come with me. You will never suffer again. I promise." The young noble whispered.

The only thing Cecil could do was stare up to the young noble…that day he would have never guessed that the young noble known as Valemeros would be the most important thing to ever happen to him and forever impact and change him and his sister, Monique.

Both of the young kids however were more than a handful for the poor noble as they honestly made his life hell for the first couple of years living in his manor. The time would come on a stormy night that the bond between brother and sister to a noble would change forever.

"Come on, Monique…we don't need some old man telling us how to live our lives." Cecil frowned as he half-dragged Monique by the wrist, Cecil had just turned ten and Monique was going to be turning nine later in the year, Valemeros however was much older than the two of them, he was actually six-teen years old! Cecil was not going to let some old man like him tell them how to speak or how to act, he had been trying to educate them over the past two years and Cecil hated being taught things he thought was useless in the world, the both of them learned everything they would ever need to know living on the streets.

"You're right, Cecil…in fact I hate the name Monique! Just call me sister!" Monique defiantly added to Cecil's comment.

"Right! We don't need his stupid names…his stupid house…his stupid food…his stupid clothes…or anything!" Cecil yelled as they walked through the stormy streets.

Fate however had a different card to place for them as Cecil and Monique were being chased, this time by the papal knights and Cecil knew the only way to lose papal knights was to escape the city and lose them in the thick of the forest, and they would do just that.

"Did we lose them, Brother?" Monique gasped painfully while they stopped in the middle of the forest to catch their breath.

"I…I…think so…Sister." Cecil roughly coughed out.

"Where…are we?" Monique wondered as she glanced around their surroundings.

"I don't know…we should…find shelter from the storm." Cecil commented while taking his sister's hand and leading her a little deeper in.

Their peace was short lived while the forest seemed to come to life with the sounds of rustling in the concealed darkness the forest offered.

"Br…brother." Monique whimpered.

"Stay by me…I'll protect you, Sister." Cecil remarked as he pulled Monique behind, away from the origin of the rustling, quickly bending down to grab a stick for self-defense.

The sight that emerged terrified the two children as the predators of the forest walked out into sight and it was not alone, three others snarled, growling, and salivated as they eyed the prey that had stumbled into their forest.

"Br…brother…I'm scared." Monique whimpered as tears filled her eyes, looking over her shoulder for somewhere to run but instead finding that another pack of predators walked up behind them, causing her to scream in terror as she clung to Cecil and his head snapped back to spot another half-dozen savage, hungry beasts and that was not even the end of it either…they were completely surrounded as more came from their sides.

Cecil was frozen in fear as he felt his body shake in terror, he could barely keep the stick up as he realized that this was the end and such a fact was a harsh realization for a child to go through. The beasts snapped their jaws, advancing slowly before a light caught Cecil's attention, from the blackness of the forest shimmered a light in the shape of what seemed to be a rod. The light was raised up high and slowly moved to the side to make a half circle as the light rod left behind a faint laminate tail, when the rod's point touched the ground the rod stayed in spot but a light continued to move away from the rod, transforming the half circle into a full.

"Even in the darkest of nights, shines a radiance that shall never fade…power of the lunar moon, grant me the blessing of your scared flames!" a voice echoed into the forest, causing the beasts to stop in spot as the light caught their attention. The circle of light suddenly flashed bright and the scared light filled the circle complete, the only shadow in the circle was the one caused by the figure standing in front of the bright radiance as the item the being held was pulled to a side like a warrior would position his sword for a running slash and the figure ran forward as all the beasts turned and snarled.

The sight Cecil saw next he would not forget for as long as he breathed in the air that kept him alive, the radiant sphere of light behind the man that looked almost exactly like a miniature version of the moon, a section of the middle suddenly shattered out and the shape of a mighty bird was left in the sphere as a blessed shriek rang in the skies, paralyzing the wolves from the sounds.

"Scared Lunar Flame!" the figure yelled out.

The bird composed of white flames seemed to engulf the man as the bird soared through the air, surprisingly it did not even burn the trees, ground or anything of the surroundings and the bird's wings expanded wide while it fly right through the large pack of beasts and even passed through the both of the kids.

The beasts all screamed, yelped, and howled in agony as the sound of their bodies being burned and charred under the white flames filled the air and yet…to Cecil, the fires felt warm, felt comforting, loving.

Cecil's eyes followed the bird composed of white flames as it preformed a u-turn and then soared towards the two children before the flamed talons landed on the ground, even with direct contact the talons of flame did not burn the ground before the bird arched it's head up and let out a gentle, song long shriek before the flames seemed to fade and take the form of the man again. The only thing lighting Cecil's version was the light of the moon and the sight he saw gave his heart a joy he had not felt till that day.

Valemeros stood before them as he breathed out heavily from the attack he used, obviously still not used to the amount of energy it consumed before his warm, caring eyes looked down at the children and he managed to give a smile while he let his sword drop to the grassy ground.

"You are…unharmed I hope." Valemeros whispered.

"Valemeros!" Monique screamed out as she was the first the run over and nearly tackle Valemeros's waist as she cried into his robe, making the noble smile as he kneeled down and pulled Monique close to him, Cecil did not waste any time either as he ran over and gave the noble a joyful hug, feeling an arm around him as the other held Monique close.

"I'm sorry, Valemeros…I didn't mean it…I love the name Monique!" Monique cried into his robe.

"What?" Valemeros laughed softly in slight confusion, it was natural because she had not said she hated it to his face and she only said it out of anger.

"We won't leave again!" Cecil added on.

"We'll be good…very good…promise." Monique pleaded.

Valemeros chuckled warmly as he rubbed the children's back. "Forget about it, let us just leave this in the past…" Valemeros whispered. "Shall we return home?" Valemeros passively asked.

Valemeros would never have to ask twice ever again.

The next few years, Valemeros had taken them both under his wing and used his ties with Exire to gain possession of once forgotten texts for Monique to study because she desired to learn about the, seemingly forgotten, healing arts and Cecil knew she wanted to learn that style because Valemeros was a perfect blend between mage and master swordsman and so she wished to be his little healer to keep him safe in her own way and Cecil tried to learn the ways of the magic and sword but he knew he would never be able to master it like Valemeros was able to, the young noble almost had a knack for learning everything that was put in front of him at a startling rate and Cecil required time to learn everything and the same was with Monique but Valemeros was very patient and even encouraged them that they did not have to learn if they did not wish to.

Cecil and Monique however both desired to learn, they wanted to be the ones to protect Valemeros for everything that the noble had done for them…he gave them both a reason to live and a purpose in life.

When Monique turned 15, Cecil realized that Monique was developing true and deep affections for the young noble and even though he was six years old than her, she did not care…she loved him with everything her heart could offer. Cecil could still remember the day that Monique tried to confess her love and desire for Valemeros but the young noble actually first denied her, telling her that she was still young and unsure of what she could want in her life, respectfully declining her affection but yet giving her a promise, to return to him a few years down the road and see if she still feels the same for him that she does that day…as months passed, her love for him only grew and she spent as much time as she could with Valemeros and although at first Cecil was a little jealous that she kept hogging all his time, now to this date he understood why.

It had happened on Valemeros's 24th birthday, his parents were mysteriously murdered and the one responsible was never found and brought to justice, Cecil did not ever suspect Valemeros back then but he did notice that Valemeros took their death with a surprising ease, he did show anything for them even as the day for their burial came.

Monique returned to him on her 19th birthday and told Valemeros her heart had not wavered, the only one she ever wanted was him and Cecil will always remember that day for Valemeros took her into his arms and gave her a soft yet loving kiss on the lips and ever since that day they were never separated…it was like one of those fairy tale endings that Cecil read in the Valemeros's library every now and then and their grown affections did not hinder Cecil's training at all, in fact it intensified because now Valemeros had someone he desired to fight for and so the young noble was also one that wished to improve as well as Cecil, the three of them…together would grow strong together and protect each other from the harshness of the world.

Neither of them would be alone ever again.

So when did Valemeros come to change so much to become the noble he is today? It all happened when the appearance of one man started to become frequent: Rodyle.

"So is that man?" Cecil asked as Rodyle took his leave of the manor.

"He is a strange man, I shall confess that." Valemeros smiled lightly as he looked over to Cecil, Monique walked up and leaned her head lightly on Valemeros's shoulder.

"I have a bad feeling about him." Monique frowned lightly.

"You say that every time he leaves." Valemeros chuckled softly.

"Because my feeling about him has never changed." Monique answered while looking up to Valemeros.

"I would not worry about him too much," Valemeros commented as he lightly cupped Monique's chin and placed a soft, tender kiss on her lips, making the young woman moan softly. "Besides, it is not him that I find to be interesting…it is the words of which he speaks."

"Do you really believe that he has some way to be rid of the discrimination against us half-elves?" Cecil asked honestly.

"Alone? No…the man is too rough and jagged; no one is going to trust the things that this guy says." Valemeros shrugged once as he looked from Monique to Cecil.

"And…you are going to?" Monique asked, wrinkling her nose in passive protest.

"If he has some form of means to at least make it possible to grant half-elves some form of freedom…then I do not see why I should not try and make use of it." Valemeros commented.

"Oooh, Valemeros you sounded so vindictive just now…gave me shivers." Monique playfully commented as she nuzzled her body into his arm while hugging it.

"Have you figured out what it is that he is trying to plan?" Cecil asked while looking over his shoulder in the direction that Rodyle had left.

"He is very careful about that at the time being which implies one thing to me." Valemeros remarked as he lightly folded his arms, making Monique only hug his upper arm with one of her arms while leaning her head on his shoulder still but looking at his hair that was over his shoulder, peacefully reaching up to playing with his hair between her fingers with half-closed, contented eyes.

"That you cannot trust him?" Monique softly whispered.

"Well that too." Valemeros chuckled as he looked down to Monique. "But it also tells me that Rodyle is planning something that is very sensitive, it is very likely he is trying to undermine others within the Designs and thus is why has come to me…those loyal to him are either unworthy of what he has planned or not fully trustworthy to impart the information on…he needs someone with huge ties and a desire that he can manipulate. He wishes to play a big game of chess with me…my mind against his…I know he seeks to use me for his own ends and I know he is trying to make me think that I am using him with whatever offer he working up to giving me…but I have already though ahead of him on this one." Valemeros completed with a light smirk while glancing over to Cecil; the young man giving the noble a nod of approval.

"I still don't trust him." Monique muttered while still playing with the purple shaded hair of Valemeros.

Weeks passed by and Rodyle made his appearance every now and then to address Valemeros in private, each visit gave Valemeros another bit of information that he seemed to store away and as the visits passed he told Cecil and Monique less and less detail about the visits but he was not doing it out of distrust, Cecil could tell that something was on Valemeros mind, a little seed was spouting in his thoughts and branching into ideas and plans…Valemeros was slowly changing.

More and more, the young noble grew a little discontented with how powerful the racism was in Meltokio and it even led to a minor disagreement, that did not last long, between Monique and Valemeros as he was annoyed with the fact that Valemeros could not open marry Monique and she could become his rightful lady of the Yogsorrow house and Monique tried to convince him it was alright and that they were married in the eyes of each other and that was the only thing that mattered. Cecil stayed on the sidelines as they disputed these facts and listened to each side of the story and he had to confess he understood both sides and took them both as valid arguments. Even if Monique and him were married to each other in the eyes of each other, that was all that would ever matter because they had loved each other so dearly but yet he could also understand Valemeros's stand on not being able to express his marriage to her in official standing and thus he would never be able to take her with him to gatherings, balls, anything public because the world of humans despised half-elves and killed any who wandered among the surface and it would be unforgivable if a half-elf was brought to a noble event. Cecil could only watch as that fact slowly ate at Valemeros's patience for the world of humans.

The more the weeks went by, the more determined Valemeros became on becoming a voice of action for the half-elves suffering throughout the lands, never allowed to walk the same grounds as humans because they were nothing but trash to humans.

Cecil feared for a moment that Valemeros was losing his battle of mental chess with Rodyle but he put his faith in the young noble, as much as Valemeros was becoming more discontent with the way the half-elves where being treated the more Cecil realized that Valemeros had always been that way…he had always wanted to save others, had it not been for him then both Cecil and Monique would have perished but he shielded him, sacrificed his own well-being for them and now he was looking beyond Cecil and Monique to the rest that suffer before his eyes and he was having enough of not being able to do anything. Cecil realized that Valemeros was seeing Rodyle as his tool, his chance to change everything that the half elves have had to endure, suffer, and die for right before his eyes and all for the sole reason of being born a half-elf.

Valemeros was a half-elf as well but he grew his hair long to cover his ears and his human parents actually protected him and shielded him and no one ever questioned a noble couples child of being anything but what they are claimed to be.

"Valemeros…may we have a word with you?" Cecil asked one morning as Valemeros walked through the hallways and stopped before them, blinking slightly.

"Why you speaking so formally with me, I told you to only do such if we have company." Valemeros chuckled softly, Cecil only looked to Monique and the woman nodded, giving the young man courage to continue.

"We both know what you are trying to do, Valemeros." Cecil started out, causing Valemeros to tilt his head slightly, making his lengthy dark purple hair shift to the side. "You want to protect the half-elves, the ones out there that are suffering as we speak…giving them a fighting chance to a more promising future." Cecil noticed the moment he said that, all signs of a smile had faded from Valemeros and his head even turned to the side to look towards the window. "That's it…isn't it?" Cecil confronted.

"You…you don't know how much it pains me." Valemeros confessed.

"Why? Why does it hurt you so much?" Monique asked worried as she covered a hand over her heart carefully. "Please tell us your pains."

"I was given a rare blessing for a half-elf…I was given this life, a life that even humans wish that they had." Valemeros commented as he walked towards the window, placing his hand against the glass surface. "But while I am in here…living a life void of dangers, threat, isolation, imprisonment, torture, and death…there are those of my kin out there suffering that fate." Cecil could see the nobles face transform as his jaw muscles tensed and his eyes closed painfully. "It just does not seem right to me that I am given all this and everyone else around me suffers…only because they were born a certain race, the more I think about it…the more I become physically sick that I am living such a life as I do. If I can be given just one chance…just one window of opportunity…I will do everything I can to use it and make sure none of my kind ever has to suffer due to racial discrimination again." Valemeros lowered his head, resting his forehead against the glass. "Even if it costs me everything…it is the least I can do to return the life I was given; I know deep down in my heart I was given all the advantages I have for a reason…to bring all the other suffering half-elves out there hope."

"Valemeros." Monique whispered softly in a tearful tone.

"Valemeros, you will be going up against something that might never be wiped aside…you know it as much as I do, but you are trying to overcome hundreds of years of racial hate, can it really be done?" Cecil had to ask.

"Even if all this racial hate cannot be undone…" Valemeros started before breathing out slowly. "Then I can at least be at peace knowing…I tried. I tried to make a world where everyone is even, where hate is no longer based on what you were born…" Valemeros looked over, locking eyes with Monique's tearful, green eyes and giving a slight smile. "A world where a man can marry anyone they wish…just because they love each other."

Cecil had nothing to say to counter that, Valemeros was going to take on the impossible and he could stand there all day and tell him it was impossible…or he could join him when Valemeros needs the support the most and stand by his side; his mind was already made up.

"Then…Valemeros, no…Lord Valemeros." Cecil commented as he stepped forward, followed by Monique and he ignored the surprise on Valemeros's face as the both of them took a knee before him and Cecil, with all the meaning he could ever muster in his life placed a hand over his heart and bowed his head. "I, Cecil, vow to stand by your side till whatever end we meet…What you fight, I fight with you and what future you seek to bring, I seek it with you."

"Me too…we with my heart." Monique added softly.

The drastic changes however, were yet to come.


	36. Answers from a dead researcher

Chapter 36

Purple lights filled the otherwise dark hallways as the figure walked down the long corridor with the fabric of a tattered, damaged cape attached to his shoulders was fluttered behind him before the man staggered one moment and his shoulder slammed into the stone wall before a grunt echoed down into the consuming void of the shadows that the purple lights did not illuminate.

"Origin...speak." the man called out with a hint of fatigue to his tone. "This…cannot be the miasma still."

"You are correct in that, Lord Valemeros." Origin spoke into the mind of the noble.

Valemeros breathed out deeply once before he raised his head slowly to look down the hallways like he was pinpointing the source of the voice. His hand reaching up to grip his forearm as blood slipped through the cracks of the gloved fingers, the human had somehow managed to harm him and that was not sitting well.

Pushing off the wall, the noble continued to walk down the hallway before turning to one of the many doors that lined the walls on both sides and stepped into the dark room. The moment the noble entered the room the mana crystals that lined the walls came to life as they gave off a lavender glow to the room and there, floating in the middle of the room, was Origin.

The once resilient and rebellious summon spirit, the only one capable of resisting Valemeros's chains of enslavement was no longer able to fight the call of the hall-elf, the moment that Valemeros had the surge of mana flowing through him only seemed to empower those invisible chains that bound the spirits to him and Origin's resolve finally crumbled—now he became like all the others and found himself a servant to the half-elf.

"Then what happened back there? I swear I could feel, see, and even taste the thick mana in the air back at the manor and then suddenly it just…disappeared—explain." Valemeros stated in a firm, demanding tone as he pressed his teeth together.

"It was temporary, Lord Valemeros…consider the state you were in to be like a volcano, dangerous after the burst and some time after but eventually the heat of the lava cools and dies out. Miasma is no longer a concern to you…it is out of your system, if we had to compare it to something…the mana that flows through you, waiting to be used for combat is like a pool of constantly replenishing water and right now the pool is empty…however."

"The pool will fill back up. I can deal with that." Valemeros huffed out as he glanced to the side for a moment and stepping out from one of the darkened corners of the room entered Luna. "It is like when I train too hard…just need a breather."

"Precisely, Lord Valemeros."

"You are hurt." Luna spoke softly, noting the blood dripping down the arm of the noble and the obvious battle-torn robes of the half-elf.

"This is unacceptable." Valemeros stated as he gritted his teeth as if he had suffered the gravest insult from that statement by Luna. "I require your assistance, Luna…nothing so harsh as my last request, I can assure that I shall not be using one as beautiful as you to impart horrific images onto another…I require healing, I cannot focus enough to do it myself." Valemeros kept his gaze to the side of the room as if he were embarrassed to ask this of Luna.

"It shall be my pleasure." She spoke softly with a tender smile.

-Scene Change-

"Down there, Lloyd." Sheena called into Lloyd's ear as she gestured down towards a cave that was like a gapping mouth in the side of a cliff, too high up for a boat and too far down to climb from the edge to the cliff, the only way it seemed possible to get there would be by the use of rheairds.

Lloyd looked down and gave a slight nod, after a few hours of flying around the edges of every cliff in the area had him thinking for a moment that perhaps the world fusing back into one had wipe it off the map but there it was and it was exactly as Cecil had said it would be.

-Flashback-

"Valemeros…he started to drastically change. It was like something was invading his mind…but we did not question it." Cecil spoke as he looked out of the frost covered window, staring into the dark night.

"Why didn't you say anything to him?" Lloyd could not help himself from asking.

The reward for such a curious question was a quick, sharp, almost biting glance from the black-haired guard before he seemed to only breathe out once in acceptance and he looked to his hand for a moment, closing it into a fist.

"Because…he is still Valemeros, nothing changes the fact that he was still the man that Monique loved and she would follow him into the deepest hells and back and Valemeros saved us both…saved me, a man that has the worth of trash in this world."

"That is not true! No life is meaningless." Lloyd could not help but state firmly.

"Spare me your idealism, Lloyd." Cecil snapped making the man hesitate for a moment before Cecil turned around. "You are not of this world…you do not understand how humans have treated the half-elves for countless years…it is easy for you, an outsider, to judge that a half-elves life has worth when the rest of the world does not see it as such…and it has happened for so many generations that even the half-elves know it…the only thing I am stating is that Valemeros…he saved us when he didn't have to…trained us when he did not need to waste the time or effort." Cecil paused for a moment to glance at Monique. "He loved those unworthy of the emotion…took Monique as his one and only and took me in as a brother...it is that Valemeros we would gladly follow to the ends of the world and back, be willing to step off the cliff if he told us to…because we put that much trust, faith, and confidence into him that he would not directly influence ill upon us."

"But…he abandoned you both and he…" Sheena spoke out softly before her head turned to look to Monique.

"Do not bother, Sheena." Raine stated as she lowered her text book from her eyes and slowly stood to her feet.

"Professor?" Lloyd blinked.

"It is blind faith that binds them…to convince them otherwise without them seeing it for themselves is futile, the best we can do for them and let them find out on their own—" Raine stated while tucking the book under her arm and using her other hand to reach up and slide the glasses from her face.

"But—" Lloyd interrupted before being silenced as Raine lifted her hand in objection.

"Listen to me, Lloyd…arguing will not get us anyway. Let them find out on their own…the truth always comes out in the end, the most we can do for now is listen to him and maybe he can tell us how Valemeros became who he is today and it just might give us an edge against him."

"Hah," Cecil scoffed before turning around again to look back to the window. "You intend to use us to try and find a weakness in Valemeros? You waste your time…Valemeros does not have a weakness and any weakness he may have had was probably wiped out by the exsphere." Cecil commented casually.

"Exsphere?" Lloyd blinked.

"What? You did not expect Valemeros to be your everyday half-elf did you? He is special…always has been and always will be. A man with a perfect blend of sword combat and magic arts, melded in perfect harmony…with the cunning of a warlord tactician to go with it…everything you do he has likely anticipated happening already and he always has contingency plans to back up his contingency plans. This world is like one big chess board to him and he has every piece analyzed." Cecil shrugged as he looked to the window, glancing at Sheena for a moment and then looking back to the dark void of night. "Every…piece has been manipulated."

"What is so special about his exsphere?" Raine stated, ignoring the idolized statements of the noble and trying to focus on one key part of the conversation.

"Rodyle had a project he was working on," Cecil started.

The moment Lloyd heard that he felt his nerves twitch for a moment as his hand noticeably flinched and his other hand instinctively reached over to gently brush the exsphere on the back of his hand.

"I do not know much about it, all I know is one night he came back to the manor…heavily fatigued and even sickly. Monique and I cared for him…" Cecil gave a slight shake of his head. "Monique was a wreck because for a moment we thought he might not actually make it but then the morning sun greeted us after a long night and just like…Lord Valemeros was up and walking around like last night was nothing but a horrible dream. It was not too long after that that we noticed the subtle changes in him…he was growing more distant at first and Monique and I came to the conclusion that Valemeros was just getting ready, mind wise, for the hardships that were going to be coming up. Valemeros started disappearing about once a week for a night and he would return…the air around him would be different, just a little colder. Monique did not mind however, she knew that he was just getting ready. When we got the reports that Rodyle perished however…everything changed in seconds. It was like someone had released a caged animal…Valemeros changed, it was like he was a coin and one morning decided to flip to the other side and our plans were set into motion…well…his plans." Cecil said in a casual and dismissive tone.

"What plans does he have exactly?" Raine asked, poking for the truth.

"All Monique and I know is the ends…and that is the liberation of the half-elves, our revenge for generations of pain, suffering, and enslavement by the humans…the method which Valemeros was going to use to get there is in his mind." Cecil could not help but give a slight smirk.

"So then you just blindly follow him?" Lloyd frowned suddenly.

"Like you are any different?" Cecil scoffed.

"Very different!" Sheena could not help but call out.

"Please…that is what you claim, Lloyd Irving is the official or unofficial leader of your group…when you all fight for a goal do you have everything planned? I would seriously think not…you follow the instincts of your leader and you all follow one goal…one ideal…how are we any different? We are following an ideal and goal and just as you all have…neither of you have a plan, when Lloyd came to attack Lord Valemeros did you stop to think if this was apart of some plan? You just followed Lloyd because it aligned with your ideals…we follow because Valemeros's sights align with our ideals…our desires." Cecil glanced over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. "Do not try and lord yourselves over us when we are no different besides our methods and ideals."

"How can you—" Lloyd started before Raine placed a hand on his shoulder, gaining his attention before the professor gave a slight shake to her head, reminding him that arguing with Cecil would be pointless and to try and stay focused. It was hard for Lloyd to just ignore but he would do it for now as he breathed out and looked over to Cecil. "Do you know where Valemeros would disappear to?"

"Monique was worried about Valemeros so naturally one night we did our best to follow him…we ended up at the edge of a cliff, Valemeros seemed to disappear into thin air when he reached the cliffs edge…we then looked down and realized there was a cave down the cliff…too high to scale up through the means of a boat and the cliff is too jagged to actually climb down."

"Where is this cave?" Lloyd asked, his tone become slightly grave while he held his breath for a moment.

Cecil looked at Lloyd through the glass of the window for a moment before looking to the glowing moon of the night.

-Flashback end-

"That is the cave that Cecil spoke of earlier." Lloyd called out in a tone loud enough for Sheena to hear as she responded to him by giving his waist a small squeeze with a nod. "We're going to be dropping down there."

'_I warn you now, Lloyd…Valemeros always has a backup._' Cecil's voice rang in Lloyd's head as he remembered the moment when they were all going to leave. '…_always has something in reserves._'

Lloyd shook the memory away, not wanting to think about it right now as he lifted a hand to signal to the cave to the rheaird's behind him where Raine and Genius rode. They had left Presea and Colette back at the village to watch after both Cecil and Monique. Presea would be able to protect Colette should the two of them try and do anything while Colette could offer their two unexpected guests comfort during their recovery.

Gracefully the rheaird's landed into the opening of the cave and instantly Lloyd knew he was in the remains of a Desian base. The metallic landing platform, the moment the rheaird's touched the surface the cave came to life with lights as a walkway was lined by flowing green lights that would lead the group to their destination.

"I…don't like being here." Sheena commented hesitantly as she rubbed her arm as if she were cold but really she was just uncomfortable and Lloyd knew that. His instinct to protect her and keep her close to him kicked in as he heard both Raine and Genius land behind them.

Lloyd could not ignore the discomfort of Sheena as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder but the moment his fingers touched he heard Cecil's voice instantly invade his mind as the memory of their very brief conversation emerge to the forefront of his mind.

-Forced Flashback-

"Lloyd…" Cecil whispered as he grabbed Lloyd by the wrist in a subtle manner that did not disrupt the others as they continued to walk out of the room and Cecil gently pulled Lloyd closer to him as he whispered in a hushed tone. "Do not underestimate Valemeros."

"I never have." Lloyd stated with a low yet firm tone and turned his head as he prepared to leave before feeling Cecil tug him a little more.

"I warn you now, Lloyd…Valemeros always has a backup…he always has something in reserves." The whisper haunted his mind as his head turned slightly more, meeting the guardian's eyes with inquisitive brown orbs. "Or in this case someone."

"What are you implying?" Lloyd hesitantly asked.

Cecil looked over Lloyd's shoulder, directly in front of him as Lloyd looked to where the noble guardian was looking to and noticed his eyes were on Sheena. The purple ninja was speaking with Presea, a fully matured, transformed Presea and this sent a lightning jolt down the nerves of his spine as his head snapped back and Lloyd felt his emotions get the better of him as he grabbed Cecil by his silk shirt and pulled light so the man's eyes were forced to leave Sheena and focus back on him.

"You cannot be suggesting that I need to keep eyes on Sheena."

"That is exactly what I am warning you about." Cecil gravely stated.

"You bastard…I trust Sheena with everything I have and everything I am…we have travelled together for years, we want the same thing…experienced the same hardships…how dare you." Lloyd felt his teeth painfully press together before he forced himself to release Cecil and turned on his heel to leave the man in the room with the unconscious Monique.

"When you lost her…how long did it feel like to you?" Cecil passively spoke in a whisper still.

"…too long." Lloyd confessed, deciding to amuse the man for just a moment longer.

"An eternity I would think." Cecil commented and the next thing he said took Lloyd by surprise. "I shall tell you now…it probably seemed like an eternity to her as well…so tell me this, what do you think Valemeros could do to someone with an eternity?"

"I won't play into Valemeros's hand, I will never question Sheena." Lloyd snapped out in a low tone, keeping their conversation between them.

"Then…he has already won."

-Flashback end-

Lloyd was suddenly aware just how dry his throat was, even the moist ocean air did not sooth the sandpaper feeling that the walls of his throat had become as he shook his head free from the images of memory to see Sheena's face dominate his vision.

"Lloyd…what's wrong?" Sheena asked worried.

"Huh?...Oh…nothing." Lloyd commented as he raised a hand to his forehead and pressed his fingers through the front of his brown locks. He was sweating; he could feel the leather of his gloves slide off the surface of his forehead with the coat of sweat that had collected. "It's just…overwhelming…finding another Desian base after we had defeated them." Lloyd covered up as he glanced to the side to see Genius, his life-long best friend at his side with a supportive hand resting on Lloyd's arm as if bracing him.

"I suspect there are many hidden bases…just because the Desians are gone does not remove the presence they once had or the things that were left behind." Raine stated as he looked around the surroundings with keen, observing eyes. "Be very careful…we do not know what security systems are in place."

"It is a good thing we're here then…after we get all the information we need, we can have Raine blow this place up as well." Sheena said while her fingers slowly slide off Lloyd's forearm and her head turned to look towards the door that would be the gate to open the base buried in the cliff.

Instinctively, Lloyd felt his hand drop as he gingerly rubbed the exsphere that was created with the life of his mother, the Angelus Project—headed by Rodyle. Now they were in what could have been the last of Rodyle's undiscovered projects and the origin of how and why Valemeros became the man he is as opposed to the man that his two comrades remember him as.

"Come on, Lloyd…let's go." Sheena whispered softly as the swordsman blinked once and realized that Raine and Genius had already gone on ahead and were observing the door on how to open it.

As the two of them walked towards the door, Lloyd could not help but look at the back of Sheena's head as his mind whirled in a daze and his resolve weakened even for a moment as he allowed himself to wonder about the purple ninja before he slapped himself mentally and reminded himself that Sheena had always been and always will be there for him. He could not let Cecil's ominous words get to him, there was nothing that Valemeros could do that would ever turn Sheena to his cause or turn her against him…nothing.

'…nothing.' Lloyd reminded himself.

Helpless; Lloyd felt helpless as both Raine and Genius tinkered with the doorway control panels and tried to bypass the security to gain clearance. Sheena sat beside Lloyd as she hugged her knees to her chest and he could feel her eyes on him every now and then but every time his head turned to look at her she had closed her eyes.

"Sheena? What's wrong?" Lloyd asked while keeping his eyes forward, thinking it might be easier for the female ninja to open up without interrogating eyes on her.

"Nothing, Lloyd." Sheena breathed out softly.

"You were always a bad liar." Lloyd passively confronted, putting a slightly teasing tone to his voice to try and lighten the mood.

"What did Cecil say to you when we left the room and he held you back?" Sheena asked in a whisper.

"Oh…you noticed that huh?" Lloyd shifted once in his place.

"I notice everything that happens…with you." Sheena confessed nervously.

"Cecil…nothing, don't worry about it Sheena." Lloyd gave a slight smile.

It was a bad time to admire her nervousness when she was trying to confront people but it was one of her many traits that he admired about Sheena. Mizuho tried to breed an assassin and instead got one of the most idealist woman he had ever met…a woman that shared so many of his ideals yet could contrast his own personality so much that the two of them never clashed.

Sheena was his other half; he could not argue that now.

'_And that is why…I just need to ignore what Cecil told me._' Lloyd nodded to himself.

"Trust me; it is nothing to worry about." Lloyd added onto it.

"…Promise?" Sheena weakly asked.

"I promise…with you watching over me, making sure I don't do anything too stupid…I'll always be fine." Lloyd looked over his shoulder and gave Sheena a reassuring smile as he watched her lovely brown eyes open suddenly, a blush surfacing on her pale skin as Sheena blinked once.

"Lloyd?"

"Sheena…I just wanted to say—"

The sentence was cut short by the sound of gears behind the steel surface of the walls coming to life as Lloyd's head jerked to the side to see the door of the Desian base slide open with Genius jumping up and down in celebration of Raine's efforts while the female professor gave a light laughter and brushed the white locks away from her face as if the task had set a few of her hairs out of place.

"Let's go." Lloyd smiled as he stood to his feet and was about to walk forward but an invisible chain stopped him as he planted his foot down and looked over his shoulder.

Sheena was still looking at him with those rich brown eyes and she still remained in her spot, motionless and speechless. Lloyd gave a smile before extending his hand out to offer it over to her. The gesture snapped her out of her slight daze as she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up to her feet.

Stepping through the door they were not expecting what was in the room beyond.

It was just a single room, a laboratory…no signature Desian maze, and no hallways leading into other wings, branches or even offices. This single lab was all that the door was sealing and even for a lab it seemed to be very under-stocked. The party walked up towards the control panel console that was in the middle of the lab, an incomplete circle of panels which had only one opening for a person to step into and then become surrounded by the glowing buttons on each panel.

-Scene Change-

Seles walked over the carpeted surface of the Wilder manor, walking to the window with a worried expression on her face. Placing a hand to her heart as every beat felt like it was tearing at the surface of her skin and threatening to break the ribs. She pulled out a message that contained a letter from the King, it was an authorized arrest for Zelos Wilder, her brother.

She did not understand why such an order was issued and what Zelos had done, all she was able to get out of the knights that came to her door was that Zelos attacked a noble and was suspected of being in league with a known terrorist that would bring war between the two nations that were already treading on thin ice with each other. She was also heavily advised that if she saw Regal to report him to the knights as well.

What would happen to her beloved big brother Zelos? Seles felt tears mist the bottom of her eyes as she dropped the letter to the carpet.

"Worried?" a voice rang from the shadows.

Seles gasped loud before her spin around, her dress floating in the air from the motion as her eyes searched the corners of the corridor.

"Relax." the calm tone came as the figure stepped out from the shadows.

"Lord Valemeros? What are you doing here?" Seles blinked as she took a defensive step back and her eyes glanced around for any servants of the manor.

"I must confess that I so disliked getting the king to issue the order for your brothers arrest, but I had to based on what I saw with my own eyes." Valemeros casually stated as he walked towards Seles, stopping for a moment to look at one of the mirrors in the hallways, admiring himself for a moment and pushing a strand of hair back into place before looking to Seles once more.

"You...you charged my brother? Why?" Seles felt a courage well up from within her at knowing the man before her was the one who endangered her brother.

"Now now...if you would hear me out, I shall explain everything...for all we know, this could be a simple misunderstanding...and we both can sit down to a simple chat and straighten this out. If we can do that...perhaps we can clear your brothers name and rejoin you with him, arresting those that are really responsible for what is happening." Valemeros grinned, noticing Seles ease her tense little body frame the moment she heard that he wished to sort through the misunderstanding.

Seles knew that her brother never did anything that was sinister and she knew that he had to either be misguided or just in the wrong place at the wrong time. If Valemeros was willing to speak with her and attempt to clear her brothers name, she would be more then willing to listen...for her brothers sake.

"I...um..." Seles stuttered before looking around in a flustered manner. "Of course, Lord Valemeros, you will see this is all a misunderstanding! Follow me...I...I can make us some tea and we can talk about Zelos...and you will see...I promise." Seles said as she straightened her dress and rushed down the stairs, looking over her shoulder for a moment as Valemeros gave her a acknowledging nod.

Seles disappeared down the stairs as Valemeros slipped his hand into the pocket of his robe, pulling out a glimmering orb. Sliding his fingers along the surface as his purple eyes appraised the item in his hand before looking in the direction of which Seles ran off.

"I...would like that...very much." Valemeros grinned as he slipped the orb back into his pocket and walked towards the staircase.


	37. The pieces are put into place

Chapter 37

Note: Sorry readers, I was sent a message saying my chapter was smashed together and I checked it myself and it was indeed. Seems the word I was using did not agree with the format of fanfiction. I am adjusting the chapter to try and correct this issue. I had to manually correct every scene and now cross my fingers in hoping that this works.

Regal's ship slid up onto the sands off the coast near Meltokio as he turned to look at Zelos, the man had sat on the port side of the hoverboat and hanged his arms on the steel railings; staring off into the distance for most of their trip.

When they had returned to the manor, Lloyd was gone when they returned for him at the manor and Regal was honestly not too surprised. The young man was so headstrong that he would face the entire world if it went against who he was and the red clothed swordsman would not even think twice about it.

That had upset Zelos on a level and left the normally cheerful young chosen into a stage of silence and probably heavy contemplation; but Regal was no mind reader...his wisdom and insight however made it so he did not have to be when dealing with the younger generation. He was not claiming they were simple to understand...just that he had been there in that same stage of life.

The both of them had also gone to Iselia and found out they were actually days too late and so the two of them continued their search for Lloyd and Sheena, learning of the purple ninja from the major of the small village.

"Zelos...are you sure you want to head to Meltokio?" Regal responded as he remembered their encounter with Valemeros there and he knew that that would only cause some conflicts.

"It is the only place we know for certain that everyone will show up, eventually we all will have to return to Meltokio." Zelos confessed as he rested his chin on the railing.

"I understand." Regal nodded once before looking at the mountains that hid the capital city of Tethe'alla.

When they started their approach of the city, Regal had that sinking feeling as he turned to look at Zelos.

"We will need a lot of explaining to do when we enter, I am not sure they will listen to us at first. We did attack one of the King's advisers and to top it off we attacked the knights of the city to get out." Regal spoke out in his calm manner.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about it so much." Zelos dismissed.

"This isn't a game...I...I think maybe you should take the sewers." Regal grimly stated.

"What? Why do you want me to trudge through that underground swamp?" Zelos frowned for a moment at the thought of having to walk through the dirty underground once more.

"If we are arrested on spot then we might not get a chance to speak our case for days and in that time it would become widely known of our arrest and who would that worry most, Zelos?" Regal pointed out; it took a moment before Zelos blinked once and looked at Regal with a solemn expression. "That is exactly why you need to think of her condition. I will try and deal with the king...you need to get your sister out of the city before she gets involved in this whole thing."

"Seles..." Zelos whispered softly before looking over his shoulder, realizing the importance of heading into the city undetected. "Regal...it is a lot to ask but..." Zelos trailed off.

"You are not asking...I offered, now go." Regal demanded.

"You better not get yourself banged up on my behalf." Zelos uttered out.

"You better get your sister to safety. I'll promise if you do." Regal confronted before Zelos gave a very slight smile.

"I won't let anything happen to Seles...ever." Zelos commented before taking Regal up on the unspoken promise between the two comrades.

Regal let out a breath as he walked towards the gates of the kingdom that he knew would not be exactly inviting him with open arms, but he was confident that he would be able to speak to the kind and maybe shed some light on the corrupt dealings that one of his advisers and if he could save Lloyd some trouble by putting eyes on Lord Valemeros so the man would have to lay low and give Lloyd a moment of peace and any second of recovery could prove to be exactly what they all need.

The moment Regal approached the entrance of the city he could swear the air thickened with tension as the sounding of metal sliding against plate surface was heard by his keen ears by the turning helmets of the knights guarding the entrance, there were more guards than normal and that meant a lot, since the merging of the worlds there had only been an increase of security.

"Seize him!" the gate captain barked out as six knights rushed forward and surrounded the noble president while pointing their weapons at him and all Regal did in response was lift his hands up as if waiting for the shackled to be placed on his body.

Two guards stepped forward and sure enough they both made careful hast as the rattling chains filled the air and the snapping of metallic links were bound to his wrists as Regal glanced down calmly at the familiar sight before him.

"You are under arrest for suspect of high treason to the crown and lands." the gate captain informed as the two guards grabbed Regal by his shoulders to subdue the man.

* * *

Zelos pushed the lid open that would lead him to Meltokio streets in a back alley as he popped his head out; confident that the streets were clear he pushed himself out if the manhole and carefully slide the heavy covering back into place, the moment the lid made it's loud thump he felt his heart thunder for a moment as he looked around like a paranoid squirrel before he felt that he was actually in the clear for the time being.

When normally a casual, dismissing comment would have come to his mind he found his mind unwilling to produce it as he turned his head towards the direction of his manor and started his walk, weaving and slithering through the concealing and keenly memorized narrow passages between the buildings of the grand capital city. He was quite thankful that the sun was setting, it would be easier to get passed the guards in the darkness, where he would from time to time jump from rooftop to rooftop gracefully he knew that is exactly what the guards would be watching for this time around.

It did not take long for Zelos to reach his manor as he slipped into the grassy garden, casting his scanning eyes around the area as if expecting his manor to be crawling with knights that would wish to apprehend him and drag him off to the castle before he would be able to make sure that Seles was still alright, with her deteriorating health, he could not bare worrying her more than he should be. His eyes instinctively looked up towards the balcony of his manor as he gave a slight smirk, he would be a fool to just walk in the front door like nothing happened, what if there were knights actually inside his manor? Running towards one of the trees in his yard, the young noble ran up the bark surface and kicked off the surface before reaching out to grab the edge of his balcony, hanging there for a moment he gave a light grunt and pulled himself high up into the air before landing to a crouch on the balcony surface, placing the palm of his hand flat against the cold surface.

His mind allowed one moment to reflect on the jesting inner comment of how Sheena was not the only one who could preform graceful and quiet entrances; if only she knew this part of him and maybe she would accept him a little more, but he could not help it...when he saw her he just lost control of who he was and the one who seemed to irritate her came to the surface...like the little boy who pulled the girls pigtails in school to tell her that he liked her.

Brushing that thought aside, Zelos entered a more cold and serious demeanour as he slowly stood to his feet and walked towards the glass door before glancing into the window, he knew what was on the other side of the glass door and that would be the library of the noble manor that was not often visited since Zelos inherited the land and now proved to be one of Seles favourite spots to relax and educate herself...she continued to surprise him how smart she actually was now that he could spend so much time with her and he would be damned if he let anything happen to her.

Slowly twisting the bronze door handle, Zelos felt his skin shiver for a moment when it gave a small, almost unnoticeable creak that sounded like the snapped of thunder in the crisp air to him. He managed to pull the door open and step into the dark room before he twisted around and carefully closed the door behind him. Letting out a light smile he closed his eyes for a moment.

One of the lamps of the room lit as Zelos pressed his teeth together almost painfully as he spun around, his hand grabbing for his short sword before he eased instantly at the sight before him.

"Seles!" Zelos exclaimed.

"Oh brother, I am so happy you are home...They have an arrest for you, it had me so worried on what would happen to you." Seles could not help but exclaim as he stepped over and gently placed her slender fingers on his shoulder, before looking to the side at the floor as if hiding her expression, not wanting him to see how worried she was about him.

"I know...let me explain everything, Seles." Zelos reassured in a calm, collected tone that he managed to hold for his sister.

"You don't have to...there is a way to get everything back to the way it was, the kind noble was nice enough to tell me of a way to avoid anything bad happening to you...or me." Seles smiled lightly, looking to the side as her eyes fell upon the darkened part of the room that could not be lit from the small lamp source sitting on the desk.

"Noble?" Zelos blinked as his eyes went from Seles to gaze on where she was looking as another light source that illuminated the entire room as Valemeros lowered his hand from the wall where the switch for light rested. Valemeros pulled his hand away from the wall and casually looked at his gloved hand before giving a sly smirk and then looking over to the red haired chosen.

"A pleasure to speak with you, Chosen." Valemeros smoothly whispered out as his deep lavender eyes seemed to stare deep into Zelos mind and soul.

"You!" Zelos hissed out as he grabbed his sword, gently pushing Seles behind him as he silently told her to get to safety. The sound of metal against sheath was heard quickly after Seles was safe as Zelos's eyes locked onto the sinister noble that had taken Sheena and for all he knew, this man could have already killed her or tortured her to insanity...he did not know but all he did know and would ever need to know as that this noble was the source of pain for him.

"Brother no!" Seles called out.

The red haired chosen slide his other arm to his side as his forearm slide perfectly into the leather strap of his lightweight buckler until it was combat ready as he stepped forward and charged the vile purple haired blight upon the lands of his home as well as his own life.

Zelos slashed down but found that his sword was repelled by an invisible shield of sorts as Valemeros's sly smirk transformed into a chuckle as he raised a hand and Zelos could swear he felt the feeling of hundreds of invisible hands grab his body as he became airborne, helpless to defend himself and before he could understand what happened he felt his body slam into the bookshelves as the wooden planks snapped, then scene exploding into books and loose pages before Zelos slammed onto the ground as the weight of the books pummelled his back.

Zelos pushed the books off of himself with an annoyed grunt as his mind flashed over what had just happened. He was airborne and then suddenly the world became a swirl, but not one of being thrown...it was one of spinning. It seemed that Valemeros had gone so far as to grab the man and spin him around Valemeros like an orbiting moon set to overdrive before tossing Zelos to the side like a piece of trash that was no longer amusing to him.

"Zelos!" Seles screamed out as she rushed over and placed both her hands on Zelos's shoulder and gently pulled at him to get his glare off the noble. "Please stop...listen to him."

Zelos only gave a growl as he pushed himself up to his feet and charged at the noble once more, his sword shimmering in a flicker of silver and red as he prepared his next attack in his mind, but not before clenching his opposite hand into a fist as lightning crackled to life in the library. Valemeros casually pocketed his hands as he seemed to be looking at one of the other bookshelves, as if not even paying attention before his head rolled to the side as his amused purple eyes watched the advance of the chosen and from what Zelos could tell, the man was even challenging him, daring him to come at him...Zelos would be sure to not to let him down.

* * *

Regal went quietly to the lower castle dungeons, escorted by a squad of knights as he kept his head held high. He knew it would be pointless to try and ask the guards to speak with the king or even the captain, they were trained to just do their job and currently that consisted of escorting him to the jail where he would rot for a night or two, but hopefully it would prove to draw any attention away from Zelos for an opportunity to get Seles out of the city before things got serious...in Valemeros managed to further his plans, whatever they were.

The guards escorted him into the jail, however this time it seemed to be the one reserved for "special" cases and those who would be getting treatment worthy of traitors to the crown and the fact he was a noble would only give a extra helping of said treatment. The shackles came off his wrists and the moment the links hit the stone guard, Regal heard the shifting of swords in their sheath around him as every knight went on guard, expecting Regal to struggle; however he would do no such thing and just wait it out till he could speak with the king. One knight stepped forward and strapped Regal's wrist into the manacle hanging from the ceiling of the dungeon cell as Regal's arm was lifted up and snapped into place, the action to be repeated with his opposite hand and his ankles snared into the shackles on the ground as all the knights tested the locks before leaving the noble to hang there and think about his crimes.

* * *

Sheena flipped a seal along her fingers until it sprang to her index and thumb as she looked intently at the designs on the surface, it was the only thing she could do to keep her mind occupied and away from the thoughts of Lloyd and what he was going to say in the cave at the entrance of the researcher.

Everything they had learned on Valemeros was also very troubling and she could tell it was pulling at the strings of Lloyd idealism and it would drive her insane just as it was troubling her deep down. She could be confident in one thing...if it troubled her, than Lloyd would be stuck in his own world trying to untangle the light from the dark.

Sheena stared directly at Cecil, he had planted himself on the edge of Monique's bedside and overlooked her recovery process. It was like in her mind she was hoping if she stared at him long enough that he would suddenly come to her and just answer all her troubling answers...but despite the questions the group had for him he kept his silence and remained by Monique's side.

Raine had made copies of the research logs and taken them with her and had spent her time in her own room with Genis by her side as the two minds of brilliance tried to figure out everything they could about the project that had involved the noble Valemeros.

'_What do I do?_' Sheena thought to herself as she gave out a light sigh while tucking the seal away in her tunic. The light shade of pink caught her attention as her eyes shifted to the side in an inquisitive manner before she saw the beautiful figure of Presea, sitting there with her chin resting peacefully on the hilt of her axe as she gave a soft sigh before looking over to Sheena with a soft smile.

Sheena could not help but let out a startled gasp as she sat straight up at the sight of the young woman. Sheena must have underestimated how much her troubled thoughts were preoccupying her mind because she did not even detect Presea sneaking up on her and making herself comfortable.

"Uh...Hi...Presea." Sheena nervously stated, she knew she should not have been so nervous around the former little warrior but in her mind she could not help but see her as a completely different woman. The image of Presea almost crushing Lloyd in her gleeful arms also made Sheena paranoid of the fact that Presea was still incredibly strong and how she managed to stand toe-to-toe against the likes of Valemeros when all of them put together could not penetrate the sheer force of the half-elf. Presea raised her hand to brush the long strands of pink hair from the side of her head to be tucked behind her ear as she gave an almost too shy wave towards the purple ninja.

"I'm still me, Sheena." Presea whispered lightly while her shining blue eyes scanned Sheena's reaction to her presence. Presea lifted her chin from the handle of her axe and then rested, replacing her chin with her overlapping hands as she leaned on the golden embroidered, green tempered axe. The young woman tried to reassure Sheena with a shy smile.

"Oh...no no, I am sorry...I did not mean...well not that you aren't..." Sheena stammered, she always cursed herself for her less than graceful manner of speaking when she was nervous and it only got worse when she was mad or infuriated with others...the few times that Lloyd's stubbornness and idealism pushed him away from her always robbed words from her mouth, making her unable to express exactly what he did to her at times. Now she was uneasy with what to say or ask Presea.

Sheena could not help but feel a little on edge however, Presea was a beautiful young woman already. She had grown waist length, silky pink hair with her creamy soft skin. Her attire was that Sheena could only describe as a comfortable, casual, and yet attractive set of adventurers clothes with a her tight sleeveless, white tank top along with her purple high collar long coat that also lacked their sleeves; the jacket was held to her shoulders by suspenders that actually resembled Lloyd's fashion. The suspenders clipped into the grey loose pants that were tucked into her silver plated boots that bared the symbol of the Lezerano Company, she also wore gloves that seemed to transform into arm warmers, a little more bulkier and thicker than the style of arm warmers that Sheena wore and unlike hers; Presea's gloves had light silver plating on the backs of her hands, once more baring the symbol of the Lezerano Company once more, the red bow in her hair that kept the pink strands in a pony tail, a bright red that actually matched Lloyd's jacket exactly. Sheena felt she had reason to feel even a little threatened by the warrior that also managed to perfectly embody the image of beauty.

"Relax." Presea smiled, the very image of her not only much older than she remembered startled Sheena, but just how much emotion she was able to capture in one single smile did as well. Last Sheena knew of her was a little girl just barely getting in touch with her feelings again the moment Lloyd managed to save her from the exsphere embedded in her chest. "I guess we have not seen each other in a long while...the moment I started to rapidly age, Regal kept a close watch over me because it...well it was extremely painful to have my body age so suddenly so quickly." Presea explain as he looked to the side with half closed eyes in the remembrance of her painful transition from girl to woman. "I wasn't able to leave my bed for a long while...Regal also became quite worried that I might not survive. He so much of Lezerano fiances on doctors to try and ease me through it as much as possible." Presea shivered once as her body recalled the agony it had recently endured.

"How did this happen?" Sheena found herself asking as she looked over Presea's aged form before she found herself wondering how Genis may have taken this sudden transformation.

"Regal could only assume what happened to me." Presea confessed as she looked down towards the ground. "It seems when Lloyd placed this key crest on me and saved me from this exsphere that has been implanted in my chest well...he stopped it's effects that prevented me from ageing, at least he thinks so." Presea spoke as her hand instinctively reached up to gently caress the golden surface of the perfectly shined key crest that Lloyd spent hours to slave over to try and make perfect. The gesture actually made Sheena little nervous, seeing how Presea was tenderly touching along the key crest with an affection that Presea may not even know she had. "It took some time but my body started to change—very rapidly—it was painful." she sighed out.

"It...it was?" Sheena asked in a worried tone as her brown eyes left the golden key crest to Preasea's face. "How do you think your body would feel if your bones started to expand and your body was forced to stretch and grow, muscles tearing from the muscles as they struggled to keep up with the progression of your growth? Your jaw dislocating because your skull is fracturing. If you can try and picture that then you can understand why it was the most physically painful experience of my life." Presea said in a somewhat cold manner, shades of her former personally—or lack thereof—surfacing once more.

The information being told to her was powerful enough to send that uneasy shiver tingling down Sheena's back as she adverted her eyes.

"I...I'm sorry...I didn't think of that." Sheena whispered lightly.

"I was bed ridden for weeks, as I said before that Regal spent a lot of resources nursing me back to health. The doctors even wondered how I survived such an unheard phenomenon, if it was not for my will that I would have died. But I could not let myself die...not yet, not until I could do something." Presea gave a light smile, Sheena was still getting used to how much emotion the pink haired warrior was now capable of.

"What would that be?" Sheena wondered.

"I could not let myself die until I told Lloyd...thank you." Presea closed her eyes as she leaned forward and placed her chin on her crossed hands as she leaned on her axe once more. Sheena felt that little sting of jealousy enter her heart at first before she let it pass as she gave a smile in understanding and nodded. "Lloyd is wonderful that way...he has touched so many lives."

One thing that Sheena let herself be comforted in was the fact that Presea was no longer a young girl nor was she a woman around their age, in fact Presea a woman whose age was decently close to that of Regal.

"I have to admit, Lloyd is more handsome than I remember." Presea idly commented as Sheena blinked once and felt her nerves twitch for a moment.

Then again.

* * *

Zelos slammed against the wall, the force causing the surface to crack as he fell to the ground once more as he coughed out in agony and fatigue. The entire room was torn upside and the sad fact that Zelos had to accept that the fact that it was his body that was used to mess the entire room up...Valemeros had not even moved from his spot and what was even worse, after the young noble had thrown the red haired chosen for the fourth time, he had picked up one of the books from the ground and casually flipped through the pages while effortlessly discarding his attacks.

'_Is this how it ends for the great Zelos?_' he could not help but bitterly think as he gave a very light smirk, somehow managing to breath out a weak laugh before he pushed himself back to his feet. His body rebelled, it felt like his bones were becoming brittle and his muscles burned aflame. "_Ah well...if this is how it must be._" Zelos muttered out as care free as possible.

One last boost of courage was all Zelos had left in him as he gripped the hilt of his sword tight once more and pushed off his foot to charge one last time at the noble that stood before him.

"Zelos! Stop! Please!" Seles suddenly screamed out as she stood in between him and his target as Zelos snapped back to one reality and that was the fact that Seles was still in the room.

Zelos stopped his charge as he lowered his sword, only to feel the arms of Seles wrap around him as her small frame pushed against him, trying to create distance between the noble and the Chosen of Mana.

"Now that you are done...perhaps you shall listen to what I have to say?" Valemeros casually commented as he lifted his eyes from the pages of the book to look over to the sibling couple.

"You don't have anything to say that I would listen to to." Zelos sneered, knowing that Valemeros had Sheena in his capture, or at least last he knew.

"Zelos...please." Seles pleaded as she clasped onto his shirt, tugging on it lightly.

"What did you do to my sister?" Zelos growled out suddenly noticing how much Seles was trying to put for him to listen to the young noble, the man that he knew was planning something that was not going to be good for either of the two lands.

"I did not do anything." Valemeros casually shrugged as he looked towards the now cracked windows of the library. "Can you not believe that she is just wishing for your well-being and that is something I can bring to you?"

"I don't want anything from you." Zelos defiantly jeered as he looked down to Seles and the only thing he could think of was getting his younger sister away from Valemeros as soon as possible. Placing an arm around his younger sister he turned her slowly and started to walk towards the door. When she was safe and out of harms way, they could continue their battle to whatever end it may bring...even if it turned out to be a bitter end.

"Really? Not even if it were the promise of the safety of those who mean the most to you?" Valemeros smirked as he closed the book with a thump of the pages, watching as Zelos's battered form walked towards the door. "The safety of both woman you care for?"

Zelos froze on the spot as he blinked once, his head slowly turning to the smirking expression of Valemeros as the noble arched an eyebrow while letting the book fall from his hand to the floor at his feet.

"You heard me...not only their safety...but what if you could the love and affection of one you wished." Valemeros spoke with a smooth tone to his whisper. "I...can bring this to you."

Zelos narrowed his eyes skeptically before feeling the slender fingers of his sister rake lightly across his shoulder as his eyes glanced down to his beloved younger sibling.

"Just listen to what he has to say first, brother." Seles insisted.

Zelos had to get to the bottom of this, for Seles's sake...the man did something to her, he would have to be careful however. Valemeros was showing to be a snake-tongued manipulator who cleverly hid dark shadows in his offers.

* * *

Sheena walked through the hallways of the winter resort, she felt herself at a loss for what to saw to Lloyd when she managed to find the courage to face him. She felt that he needed someone right now to help him find his way...and she had hoped that maybe that someone could be her. Colette used to be the one that Lloyd used to depend and that was something that Sheena did envy greatly was the bond between the two but now over their years of travel...maybe Sheena did not have any reason to be jealous of their bond anymore because of the bond that had formed between the both of them.

She had walked passed his door at least a dozen times now before she managed to just breath out, gather everything she had in her body and soul as she acted before she gave it too much thought and would cause the chain reaction of procrastination and contemplation; it was that sudden action that made Sheena painfully aware that she was already knocking on his door.

With the muscles of her throat tightening already from the tension of realizing that there was no turning back for now that she had knocked on his door. The only thing she could do now was look down at the floor at her feet as her fingers fiddled with the edges of her purple tunic while her heart raced inside her chest as she waited for an answer on the other side.

"Who is it? The door is open, come on in." Lloyd called out from the wooden barrier in front of the purple ninja.

Swallowing hard one more time, Sheena pressed her hands against her soft tunic and slowly pushed it smooth as she gave a sigh out and focused her eyes on on the door handle for the small second that lasted eternity in her mind. Touching the handle with the tips of her fingers, she turned the handle until the thunderous click of the lock invaded her ears and allowed Sheena to push the door open as her heart stopped for a moment.

Sheena shivered once when she opened the door to his room, it was filled with a fresh rain forest scent...the gentle and welcoming scent of Lloyd that Sheena had come to love. The moist heat in the room actually gave it away that the young swordsman had recently taken a shower and that thought actually worked very well to make Sheena second guess her strength to meet with Lloyd right now. She had gone this far however and she was not going to go back now—as much as her feet wished to choose the flight option and dash silently and gracefully across the carpeted hallways to retreat to her own room. A strength she underestimated inside her pushed her forward as she walked into the lightly steam misted room, biting her lip as she crossed her hands over her lap and kept her head lowered just enough so her eyes saw only floor.

"Uh...Hi..." Sheena muttered out nervously as she held her breath for a moment.

The thought went through her mind how Lloyd held so much control over her to this day, they had spent years travelling together and he still had a way of making her a nervous little girl who was lost without him...she found herself wondering again exactly when she became so dependant on him—when she realized that she needed him in her life.

"Oh...Hello Sheena." Lloyd said somewhat grimly; Sheena knew that tone all too well...Lloyd was troubled and his thoughts had not solved anything.

"I...do you have some time to talk?" Sheena fumbled with her wording as she did her best to focus on trying to keep her nervousness in check as her brown eyes slowly looked up to see Lloyd was staring out of the window with both his hands flat on the window sill and his eyes were actually looking into the reflection of the glass to look at Sheena with his absent stare, the eyes of a deeply troubled man.

"Sure...it might actually help." Lloyd confessed.

"Do you want to talk about it? To me...I mean." Sheena asked while rubbing her forearm lightly as she felt her brown eyes gaze to the side at Lloyd's bed as she awaited an answer.

"It is never easy...is it?" Lloyd muttered as his eyes closed.

"What do you mean?" Sheena blinked once.

"When I was going to school...sometimes Raine would read these long stories that I did not pay much attention to at the time...but the things I did understand was that there was a good side that had to stop this great evil to save the day...but now that we are actually living that adventure...it is not so easy, our enemies are not so easily separated...you always learn more about them that makes it harder for me to condone taking a life." Lloyd spoke with a light ring of despair in his tone.

"Lloyd..." Sheena breathed out softly as she slowly advanced on the troubled swordsman. "You have been in here all this time trying to think this through alone?"

"It is my problem...I did not want to drag anyone else into what I have been trying to sort out." Lloyd sighed once, Sheena could see him in the reflection of the windows and watched as his eyes come to a close while the swordsman became lost in his own thoughts.

"Lloyd...nothing is just your problem." Sheena started as she walked over and found herself hesitating for a moment as her hands lifted towards his back. Her hands hovered over his back before she jerked them back just a little. "It never was just yours to face, Lloyd...it is ours to face with you." Sheena whispered before she bit the bullet and placed her hands on his shoulder blades lightly, leaning her head against the back of his neck as she pressed herself against him to comfort the young man. She could not imagine the strain that must have been on Lloyd...asking a young teen to save the world was stressing enough on him but now he must play the savour one more time as a young man. "Let us face this together Lloyd...tell me what is on your mind." Sheena urged softly as she dragged her fingertips against his jacket lightly while closing her own eyes.

"I...I am not sure how to find the words for it." Lloyd confessed.

"Then...let me stay here until you do? So I can be here when you need me." Sheena nervously asked as she felt herself nibble lightly on her bottom lip as every second that passed tormented her until his response could come.

"...Thank you...Sheena." Lloyd answered as she felt him breath out, his heart beat calmed her as she heard it through his back.

"Always..." Sheena reassured in soft comfort.

* * *

How many days had passed since the former noble and president had been hung in the dungeons and forgotten like a worthless criminal? If he did make a guess he knew that at least three days had already passed and the only thing he was allowed was the criminals provisions of water and scrap foods. He did not brother trying to speak to the guards to get his audience, they were trained not to listen to a word he said...and so like he did when he took the life of that dearest to him, Regal suffered in silence as the days went by.

The invading sounds of footsteps could be heard coming towards the prison cell; that sound gave Regal hope that someone from the council was coming to allow him at least an audience to explain his actions personally to the King. He was after all one of the kings trusted friends, he would want an explanation from Regal personally before deciding what to do with him.

Pulling himself up so he could stand as proud as possible, Regal lifted his head towards the door only to hear the key slip into the door and with the jerking twist of the iron rod came the ringing click of the lock coming undone. The room was dominated with an onslaught of light as the mana crystals burned to life and forced Regal to grunt in pain as his eyes forced themselves shut for a moment until he could get used to the mana induced light that filled the dungeon chamber.

"Mr. Bryant, President of the Lezerano company turned terrorist to the free world of Tethe'alla and the sovereign of the crown. Tsk tsk." the fuzzy yet familiar voice sounded into the empty cell, the tone was dry...lacking any distinct character to the tone but he could tell who it was.

"Valemeros, head of House Yogsorrow." Regal grimly stated as he peaked one eye open, looking at the darkened silhouette of the twisted half-elven noble.

"A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Bryant...you know I was deeply hurt that you decided to attack me that night." Valemeros mocked while holding back a chuckle as Regal could hear the obvious sarcasm in his voice.

"What do you want, Lord Valemeros?" Regal grunted once as he pulled at his wrists.

"Oh...those manacles painful? I shall assume they are. That will not concern you soon however...I am here to tell you that judgement has already been passed down on you...and Mr. Irving." Valemeros smirked as he reached into his robe and pulled out a paper parchment.

"What?" Regal felt his voice raise suddenly.

"An emergency tribunal was hosted, addressing this growing threat of Sylvarant and possible uprising against the ways of Tethe'alla. You have been found as both a sympathizer and agitator as well as found guilty for conspiracy against the crown. Lloyd Irving has been found guilty as a war criminal, spreading hate and slander against the crown while rising a revolutionary army." Valemeros stated as he read from the opened scroll, looking over the paper towards Regal with a suddenly smirk on his face. "Lezerano Company, all files and assets have been seized and shall undergo investigation by one trusted of the crown...Lord Valemeros Yogsorrow shall undergo the investigation."

The words that were being read in the report sent shivers down the spine of Regal as the noble realized that Valemeros was not as reckless or careless as he may have perceived, the man was adapting to whatever twists may have happened to his plan and manipulated it to benefit him...Lezerano Company was now under his command and Regal could do nothing about it.

"What...is my sentence? I demand to speak with the king." Regal exclaimed as he pulled at his shackles for a moment. Regal knew that Valemeros had the testimonies of the surviving Knights from their encounter that one fateful night but he did not think that that would be enough for the King to drop such serious charges and even consider what ever advice Valemeros gave to not allow Regal to be present for his own tribunal.

"A terrorist has no rights in our kingdoms, Mr. Bryant...you know that. The testimony of a surviving, frightened Sylvarant girl saw Lloyd himself destroy her village because they would not hand over their exspheres. The sole survivor of Luin, she is now in protective custody. As if her testimony was not enough to bring the actions of Lloyd Irving to light, the testimony of the former Chosen of Tethe'alla was more than enough for the council to see reason." Valemeros smirked as he rolled up the scroll.

"The Chosen?" Regal uttered in disbelief. "You couldn't mean-"

Before Regal could complete his sentence he saw the silhouette of another figure come from the opening of the door and it did not take long for Regal to recognize the man now standing just a pace behind Valemeros. "Zelos? You didn't...tell me you didn't lie to the council about Lloyd." Regal demanded as he pulled at the shackles once more.

"I did." Zelos stated in a sharp tone, similar to the one he used when he revealed himself to be in league with Pronyma. "I would do it again too if I had to." Zelos carelessly shrugged as he looked to the side.

"Why?" Regal stated.

"Why? I am tired of always being the one who does not get what he wants in the end...Lloyd got everything." Zelos frowned while looking to the wall of the dungeon still.

"You betrayed your friends for fame and fortune? Things you already had? How can you justify that? How can you look at yourself?" Regal sneered, allowing his emotions to flood to the surface as he felt his muscles tense and his teeth press together in anger and resentment.

"Fame and fortunes I got...I don't need them, why would I ever want more of that?" Zelos laughed off as if it were nothing.

"This is not a game Zelos, stop playing them and tell me why you would do this." Regal demanded in a more firm tone that actually gave off the volume of a scolding fatherly figure.

"Hey, I am not treating this like a game...believe it or not I can be serious." Zelos frowned as he looked over to Regal finally. The young chosen looked to Valemeros. "There are few things in this world I would do anything and everything for."

"He has your sister in capture, doesn't he? Playing along with his plans won't free her."

"Hah!" Zelos scoffed as he brushed the red bangs from his forehead. "Seles was the one that encouraged me to speak with Valemeros, he also brought me the testimony of the little girl, the survivor from Luin and it was through her words I found out that Lloyd is not so...idealist as we thought and thanks to him, he is leading Sheena down his road as well...I can't leave her like that." Zelos stated dryly as he turned around, looking to the door frame.

"Sheena...that is who you are doing this for now, you think you are trying to save Sheena." Regal frowned.

"Sheena was mine before Lloyd came along..." Zelos suddenly spoke in a firm tone as he turned around suddenly, his irritation and aggression filling the air around him.

"Zelos...no...you cannot give into this jealousy...you're better than this, Zelos." Regal tried to reassure.

"Shut up, old man, you are just too close to Lloyd to see the big picture."

"Spoken from someone that is blinded by emotions, that statement lacks conviction." Regal commented in a monotone manner.

"That is quite enough, Zelos...I need to speak with Mr. Bryant alone." Valemeros stated as he tossed the scroll to the Chosen of Tethe'alla.

The young red-head gave a nod while taking his leave of the chamber.

"It was actually quite simple." Valemeros stated in an amused manner as he pulled out a reflective stone that resembled crystallized mercury.

Regal knew he could have asked what he meant by such a statement or even make the bold claim that all he needs to do is speak with the king, but he was not going to give anything for the half-elven noble to use against him or reveal anything that Regal had going on in his mind.

"All it took was Seles telling me everything about her older brother that she cherished so dearly to know exactly how to use such to my advantage." Valemeros continued as he flipped the mercury stone along his fingers casually.

"You miserable little letch." Regal felt himself cussing the noble.

"The word of the Chosen hold power and control in this kingdom...not to mention his power from his Cruxis Crystal; I have seen the power of exspheres that were made in attempt to be a Cruxis Crystal." Valemeros recalled as he remembered the power that the pink-haired female held against him before he raised his right hand to look at the back of his hand, the exsphere that was apart of another project laid underneath the gloved surface as his hand slowly closed into a fist. "I figured if imitation crystals can boost so much power...a Cruxis Crystal..." Valemeros spoke softly as he slide the mercury orb along his palm with his thumb, before closing his hand. "Shall be a useful little ally to have." Valemeros chuckled lightly before looking from his hand to Regal. "And you...I shall assume you are waiting for the moment to manipulate the opportunity to speak to the king and pray on his mercy to give you the chance to expose me for what I am...aren't you?" Valemeros gave a suddenly chuckle before stepping in close. "You know...ever since the events that took place two years ago, you and the king have become quite close." Valemeros observed as he pocketed the mercury orb and smirked at Regal. "Oh you do not need to say anything...it is written over your face what you had planned...all over your emotionless face." Valemeros continued with a light chuckle once more.

"Get to the point." Regal spoke in his same monotone voice.

"The point is this...the king's usefulness is about to reach it's end. All that I need him to do is to start this war between Tethe'alla and Sylvarant...and then all he needs to do is die." Valemeros whispered as he placed a hand on Regal's shoulder while leaning in a little close. "I figured you should know...being as close as brothers and all and I figured I might as well be considerate and give the king a brother to greet him on the other side." Valemeros grinned widely before yanking on Regal's shoulder.

Regal suddenly let out a grunt as pressure was felt against his gut, quickly followed by a sudden burning sensation as every muscle in his body tensed, his eyes slowly dropped to look down to see a familiar tanto impaled into his gut, the surface seemed to be coated with some liquid substance. Regal jerked against the chains as agony started to melt his every nerves but his efforts were quickly realized to be in vain as his body became stiff and his lips parted to try and utter something out loud. Valemeros twisted the tanto in his gut so Regal's body was forced to convulse before Valemeros stood back, pulling out a piece of cloth as he wiped his hands and gave a slight smirk.

"Both of us being nobles...also means we are like a form of brothers as well, Bryant...so please, be a kind elder brother and meet our brother on the other side." Valemeros laughed out loud as he turned around towards the door and walked to make his leave. "I will be sure to not keep you waiting long...our other "brother" shall be joining you shortly."

Regal felt blood trickle out of the corner of his lips as his body instantly felt heavy and he realized quickly that he was going to bleed out. The only think left he had to look forward to was the welcome of darkness as he passed into a slumber he would never wake up from. Valemeros glanced over his shoulder and gave a sly smirk before touching the side of the walls, turning the mana crystals off as he closed the door and left Regal to his blanket of darkness. The clicking of the door acted like the final nail that was placed his coffin. Regal only grasped onto one regret as he felt his life ebb from his existence...and that was that he could not see Presea one last time and that he could not protect her from the half-elf that was seeking to destroy everything in his path.

"I'm...sorry..." Regal uttered out as he let his head fall and let the darkness claim him one final time.


	38. Blood, Fire, Chaos: Meltokio

Chapter 38

"Richter?" Emil voiced in a soft tone as he entered into the small little research domain, the first sight that the young blonde saw was Richter behind his desk, the glasses reflecting the subtle light from his desk as the man scribbled into his notebook.

A tense moment passed as Emil froze on his spot the moment that he saw the shine from the surface of the glasses disappear as Richter glanced up to greet the figure of intrusion.

"What is it, Emil?" Richter spoke out in a firm tone as the man laid the pen on the side of his own personal research.

"I was just thinking...uh...what we are doing...is it...right?" Emil asked in an uncertain tone as his eyes glanced to the side while he instinctively rubbed the back of his head as if he felt ashamed for even having to ask Richter or even imply that he was questioning the mans motives.

"Emil, even if something does not seem right to do...know that someone has to take a stand when others lack the voice to be able to. We are giving the people of Sylvarant a voice." Richter casually responded as he placed the pen in the middle of his text book and gave it a close, marking his place in the book.

"I...see." Emil confessed as he kept his eyes to the side.

"You fight for your family, do you not? Don't you feel like they deserve a better existence than to be bullied by the people of Tethe'alla?" Richter commented as he leaned back in his chair.

"I just want everyone to be treated fairly...on both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla...I don't want to fight them to concur them." Emil confessed.

"That is exactly what the Vanguard is here for Emil...our rights, if no one else has the courage to fight then that is their problem, I lack no such trait and I will gladly fight where others are too weak to do so. We all have our reasons to fight...what matters is we have the strength to fight for them instead of hiding behind a screen of weakness, being the target of pity and mercy." Richter spoke with a sudden sense of disdain in his voice as he felt his hands clench together into a tight fist.

"That is a little bitter...what if they cannot fight?" Emil questioned.

"Then they need to learn...and that is where the Vanguard shall serve as an example...if someone has to be strong enough to take the first stand then it shall be me." Richter easily responded as he leaned his cheek into the palm of his hand, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair.

"What about you? Do you fight for anyone?" Emil asked as he looked back over to Richter.

The Sybak researcher seemed to pause for a moment as he reflected on that question, his silence only making the blonde haired ally nervous as he shifted from one foot to the other while waiting for the response.

"I fight for a life that was taken prematurely from this world." Richter stated with an edge that was stern and cold at the same time.

That was not a confession that Emil was expecting as his eyes went wide for a moment and before he could ask who the unnamed life form was that was taken from this world, a flicker of darkness claimed the room. The flash of darkness was accompanied by a heaviness in the air and that heaviness could only be compared to the feeling a warrior gets when they know they are about to die...a feeling of impending doom and utter destruction. Richter responded by slowly standing from his chair as he placed both hands flat on the desk as if waiting.

Dark matter swirled in ribbons throughout the room before they all snaked to one location, combining to create a sphere that shimmered like it was composed of liquid mercury, tainted black through the dark energy which could only be linked to the Summon Spirit of darkness, Shadow.

The sphere rippled for a moment as if stabilizing as Richter and Emil watched while the liquid parted enough for the entrance of a certain half-elf noble as the man stepped onto the carpeted floor and his eyes slowly opened as the noble slide his hands into his pockets in a casual manner.

"Valemeros." Richter breathed out in greeting.

"Lord Valemeros, last I checked." Valemeros smirked as he looked over to Emil, noting the nervousness locked in the young mans eyes. The blonde could not stare at him for long as he pulled his eyes away from the noble. "How is your Vanguard coming along?" Valemeros commented as his eyes slowly moved from Emil back to Richter.

"I have gotten reports from some of my men that the exspheres are making some of them feel ill. I have heard of side effects before from these exspheres." Richter started as he raised a hand to push the glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"I would not worry about it." Valemeros commented casually. "Exspheres take some time to adjust to some subjects...however there is a way to overcome such adverse side effects." Valemeros added as he walked over to one of the mans book shelves and appeared to be looking at the titles that were written on the spines; however that was not fooling Richter.

Valemeros traced an index finger along the spine of a book before Richter felt his limited patience come to an end as he frowned in irritation.

"I am in no mood for games. Tell me what you have to say and then be gone. There is a lot of issues that require my attention over childish antics." Richter breathed out in annoyance.

"Games? You think it is a game when I present you with the perfect opportunity to attack Meltokio?" Valemeros suddenly grinned as his eyes shifted from the tomes to the researcher. The young man stayed silent and Valemeros knew the man was waiting to explain that before he even made any comment. Richter was good at covering up anything about his reactions to what he heard.

"A-attack Meltokio? Why would we do that?" Emil stutterer out.

"Silence, Emil...let the man speak." Richter spoke in a commanding tone.

"Think of it...a successful attack on the capital city could be just the boost the Vanguard needs to demoralize and cripple the enemy army. One surprise attack deep within the castle walls...if you can set the castle in flames then you know what strategical advantage that would prove to the Vanguard." Valemeros conveyed with a sinister gleam in his eyes.

"You must think I am a truly a fool, don't you?" Richter responded with a cold tone. "You want the Vanguard to attack a capital that is being guarded by the entire Tethe'alla army? They have been on guard more-so now than ever with all the events that have taken place in the world."

"And what would you say if I could open the gates of impossibility for you?" Valemeros proclaimed with a hint of arrogance and cheer hidden along his words. "After all, you have more than just men at the call of the Vanguard...I could summon up the darkness of shadow to conceal your men in the blackest of nights as well as bring down the fury of the winds to sweep through the enemy ranks...the fires of the deepest mountains shall consume the Vanguard's deadliest foes...all at my fingertips." Valemeros illustrated cheerfully as his eyebrow arched.

Richter narrowed his eyes for a moment in a suspicious manner.

"But a moment of your time is all I require...I assure you that you shall be most interested in what I have to say...for the Vanguard's sake." Valemeros concluded as he turned to face Richter completely, folding his hands behind his back.

* * *

The rest that came to the group that night was a restless one, especially for the pink haired warrior Presea; her body twisted along her bedsheets, the fabric constricting to her body as her skin lightly misted over with a thin layer of sweat before she gave a soft moan of protest. Her muscles tensed for a moment as her hand gripped the bedsheets, twisting her wrist as she pulled in protest.

The closed eyes of Presea showed her to be asleep but yet the twitch in her eyelids along with the convulsions of her body openly displayed the nightmare that was haunting her dreams.

Blood...blood poured along the stone ground. A man hanging by his wrists as his screams echoed in the empty room before the sight changed in a split second to a dagger stabbing into a human body as blood splashed out from the hilt.

Blood dripped from the walls, the sounds of a heartbeat dominated her mind as every heartbeat gave birth to another spurt of crimson fluids and all she saw was the agonized face of Regal, tears of blood falling down his face before he wrinkled up into a corpse and withered into dust.

The sight of a man hanging in a dungeon flashed in her mind one last time before that sight zoomed out to show the grand city.

'_Meltokio!_' screamed a voice deep in her mind.

A gasp filled the air as Presea jolted to a seated position as she grabbed her heart lightly and she swore she could not feel her own heartbeat for a few seconds before it came in a rapid session of beats that felt like it would actually jackhammer into the palm of her hand, trying to shatter the bones.

Presea breathed heavily through a gaped mouth as she raised her other hand to her forehead and brushed the pink strands of hair away from her eyes as she tried to gain her baring on where she was as she looked down at her legs and seemed to tense for a moment as if she was not used of seeing such slender legs belonging to her. Digging her nails into her head lightly she tried to erase the traces of her nightmare before one name exited her lips.

"Regal..."

* * *

"Lloyd...Lloyd..."

Those whispers slipped into Lloyd's dreamless sleep as he felt the darkness stir at the soft, intruding voice. The voice sounded once more as it tied a noose around his consciousness and willed the young swordsman to wake and answer the calls.

Lloyd became very aware of the feeling of his shoulders being gripped and his body being lightly shaken to the world of waking as his eyes cracked open in a sleepy haze, the only think he could make out in his dark room was the light that bounced off the pink that was in front of him. It took the pink haze calling out his name one more time before he realized who was in front of him as his body jerked for a moment and he breathed in deeply while his eyes quickly adjusted to the womanly figure of Presea.

"P...Presea? What are you doing in here?" Lloyd muttered as he slowly pulled himself up, rubbing his eyes lightly on his forearm to clear out the lingering haze over his eyes.

"We need to talk." Presea softly whispered in a surprisingly meek tone.

Lloyd lowered his forearm as he looked over to his late night companion, she had tucked her legs carefully underneath herself and folded her hands lightly over her lap as she kept her head lowered in the most submissive manner that Lloyd had ever seen from Presea. He felt a tingle crawl along his spine as he realized the woman was still in her nightgown, fine lace collar with small ribbon-like tassells that hung from her shoulders, the night gown did more than enough to accent the curvy woman she had become and Lloyd could not help but glance away as if out of respect for the vulnerable woman before him.

"W...what do we need to talk about?" Lloyd spoke, clearing his throat once as he regained his composure for the woman.

"It's Regal...I...I think he is in trouble...we need to go to him." Presea pleaded.

The genuine concern in Presea's voice actually got Lloyd to look back over to the stunning beauty as he felt his eyes go wide for a moment with worry.

"What do mean?" Lloyd spoke as he stiffened his posture, feeling the protective side of him surfacing as he closed the distance slightly between himself and Presea, reaching out to gently grab her shoulders as the woman slowly lifted her eyes to meet with his. Lloyd could swear that the only thing he could see in her eyes were that of a frightened child and Lloyd knew instantly that he had to do something for the shaken woman.

"We...we need to go to Meltokio." Presea whispered as she shivered once and placed both her hands lightly on Lloyd's forearm. "Please...I...I just need to make sure that Regal is safe."

* * *

Valemeros opened his eyes slowly as if awakening from deep concentration, looking up at the ceiling as if in a knowing way as he gave a sly smirk and turned around to meet the observant eyes of Richter. The researcher had his eyes narrowed in a manner that one would double check a questionable action or moment that they witnessed.

"Time is running our Richter...there will be a very small opening for attack and you can either take and strike the first fatal blow to Meltokio and all those of Tethe'alla...weakening the control they shall have over the people of Sylvarant...or you can spend years trying to plan out what I can help you accomplish right now." Valemeros smirked still as he kept his hands folded behind his back, glancing to the side for a moment as if noticing some dust on his robe as he raised a hand to brush off the invisible taint upon his being.

"You have to look it from my shoes, I just built up this force...not all of them are warriors, I have yet to train most of them to be capable of warfare." Richter pointed out as he eyed the noble.

"No...I am just asking you to trust me a little more. I have given you resources...exspheres...keycrests, basically I am risking everything just as you are. You need to know that I would not risk it all if I did not know it wasn't a guaranteed thing. Those exspheres will give your men the edge they need and now I am offering an opportunity along with the aid of summon spirits, a force that no army in Meltokio is ready to face. What shall happen if the day comes that Tethe'alla takes the first action and strikes first? The king has lost his patience with Sylvarant and has already amassed an invading force...that is how I know the city shall be vulnerable, the kings forces shall be advancing to the border and a huge percentage of them shall be leaving the city." Valemeros explained as he walked over to Richter's desk and placed both hands flat against the hardwood surface. "I can use the winds to blockade any reinforcements from reaching the city and darkness can be used to cloud the vision of the forces inside the city."

"What about all the innocent people?" Emil suddenly voiced from the corner of the room.

"There is no such thing as innocent during wartime, boy." Valemeros felt his eyes narrow for a moment as he glanced over his shoulder to the young man before looking back to the stern expression of Richter. "Strike first...or the king shall, the choice is yours." Valemeros voiced as he pushed himself off the marble desk and started to make his way towards the rippling dark sphere.

"Hold." Richter demanded as Valemeros stayed his advance for a moment, giving a sly grin before forcing himself to hide the expression as he looked over his shoulder. "When shall you need me to have the forces ready?"

"As soon as possible, I believe it shall be a good chance to field the power of those exspheres." Valemeros smirked as he turned around for a moment. "When your forces are ready, just call out to me and I shall offer the transport for your troops...strike fast, hard and spread far...I shall do my part to leave the forces bewildered so taking the castle shall be a simple task." Valemeros stated in casual arrogance as his form disappeared into the blackness of the sphere.

Emil seemed hesitate to say anything as he watched the sphere ripple before it evaporated before his very eyes and some light returned back to the room, as if the sphere acted as a syphon for the rays of light.

"Can we really trust him?" Emil asked in an uneasy tone.

"For the time being I believe we can...but his place in the Vanguard is quickly coming to it's end." Richter dismissed as he laced his fingers together and allowed himself to be pulled away into the darkness of his mind as he remained in deep thought. Emil could tell Richter was thinking and so the young man allowed him the silence as he turned around and left the room.

* * *

Valemeros walked down the carpet while being accompanied by two of the royal guards as Valemeros placed his hand on his chest, the classical hand over the heart as he went down to one knee to bow before the king as the guard on his right introduced him before the king.

"Sir Valemeros of House Yogsorrow." The guard introduced.

"You may leave us." The king responded as both guards gave a bow of their heads and walked back towards their posts in the royal chamber.

"Your majesty." Valemeros spoke out passively.

"Rise, Lord Valemeros...it is my honour to have you here." The king spoke out truthfully. "You have done much in your short time of service to the kingdom, weeding out traitors and bringing the true enemies to our nation to light. Is there anything else you have discovered that brings you here before me? Personally I would hope not, for our nation has enough enemies as it is."

"I would hope not, my liege." Valemeros responded as he rose to his feet, dusting off his robe as he walked up the steps to close the distance between himself and the royal blood that sat on the throne. "In fact I come with the option in hopes to strengthen an alliance between our nation and another." Valemeros spoke out in a sudden whisper like tone, like a deceptive snake would lull it's victim into the comfort of false security before being finished off.

"What are you proposing, Lord Valemeros." The king wondered as he eyed the noble.

"Mizuho has been an ally to the kingdom, we both know this...however, since the unification of the worlds of Tethe'alla and Sylvarant; they have been very seclusive and even elusive to Meltokio and the world of Tethe'alla. I am not suggesting they have gone rogue or become traitors, my king, I am merely suggesting that we pay them a respectable visit and strength our bond. If the aggression from Sylvarant becomes hostile enough for war...they would prove to be an invaluable ally to have and it is very likely that if Sylvarant is mounting a force...they would approach Mizuho with an offer. It is known that our cultures have clashed enough in the past...we do not want that used against us if there is even the smallest chance that could allow them to go traitor on our nation." Valemeros explained as he took his usual place at the right side of the king as he leaned lightly against the finely crafted golden throne.

"Do you think it is possible for Mizuho to turn their backs to our kingdom?" the king spoke in a sceptical tone as he looked over to the side at Valemeros.

"My liege, I am not sure if you know this or not, but the tie of allegiances is pretty fragile between Meltokio and Mizuho, the cultural differences have made a very noticeable gap that have made our allies feel very unwelcome among us...now is the best time to strengthen those ties and have them stand with us." Valemeros reaffirmed.

"What would you suggest then?" The king wondered. "You family line has served as advisers and military tacticians for the royal line for generations...like my fathers trusted yours before you, I shall trust your advise." The king added in as he straightened himself up in his throne.

"Then listen to me...now more than ever, my king. We need to go to Mizuho...personally and pay them the respect of having the king come to them in person to meet with the head of their culture, sit down and speak with them." Valemeros uttered out in casual whisper as he leaned forward to speak directly to the king and the king alone.

"That is a bold move, Lord Valemeros and it is also putting your king in danger. Many would speak against you for suggesting such an action with the threats in our world now with the unsettled Sylvarant." The King spoke out logically.

"But those voices don't matter against your voice, my king. You asked for my advice and I gave it, my family have offered advice that has pushed our kingdom forward into a new age...that is what I am thinking about." Valemeros assured as he strained to keep his smirk hidden.

"For your sake, Lord Valemeros...I hope you are correct. We shall go with my royal guard and it would be in our best interest to go swiftly, the less that know of my leave the less opportunity there shall be for any possible assassination attempts if this Sylvarant rebellion is bold enough...I wish not to find out with my own life on the line." The King nodded once.

"If you wish to keep as much secrecy as possible...then perhaps it shall be in our best interest to keep me here in the kingdom and just try and keep everything calm and orderly until your return, my liege." Valemeros whispered in a casual manner. "That way I could act like your voice and keep face for the other nobles so none become suspicious."

"You just may have a point, Lord Valemeros." The king nodded once as he looked over to the fine paintings that lined his court while stroking his chin lightly. "Your father was a good man to me and the kingdom, I could trust him with maintaining the lands and you being of his blood I shall give you a chance, young noble." The king spoke out in a meaningful tone as he looked over to Valemeros.

"I shall do my best to not disappoint you or put my family name to shame." Valemeros spoke as he placed a hand over his heart and gave the polite bow of his head.

"I shall perhaps my personal guard, the kingdom shall depend on you for the short time I am gone."

"I shall always keep the kingdom in my best interests." Valemeros spoke in a subservient tone while he kept his eyes closed and his head bowed. The moment he head the king's footsteps fade off in the distance he could not help the smirk that twisted at the corner of his lip as his eyes half opened. "And I assure you...this kingdom really interests me." Valemeros chuckled lightly.

* * *

"I don't know about this Lloyd; Meltokio is not the place we should be going to. Not after that incident with Valemeros and the knights." Raine warned as she slowly folded her arms over her stomach.

"But Raine...aren't you worried about Regal?" Genis exclaimed in a worried tone.

"First of all, we do not even know if he is even in danger." Raine responded is a somewhat cold manner as she gave her younger sibling a stern glare.

"I am going to go...with or without you." Presea commented, shades of her more emotionless tone surfacing as she pulled hard on her gauntlets.

"Then you could be walking right into a trap." Raine responded while closing her eyes.

"Then wouldn't it be better if we all went with her together? I wouldn't want Presea to face it alone then." Sheena managed to chip in as she looked to the pink haired warrior who in turn looked to Sheena with a moment of gratitude before looking down as she gripped her axes, lifting them off the carpeted floors for a moment as if testing their weight, even though the solid edges of destruction seemed weightless under her strength.

"I think we should go with her to make sure she is safe...but I think we should also do whatever Lloyd thinks...he's our leader." Colette spoke in her usual soft tone as she looked to Lloyd.

The moment that comment was made, Lloyd felt every single pair of eyes on him as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment as if putting the pressure of the moment out of his mind to make a more knowledgeable decision but he already knew what he would chose and that was what would be right...not what was logical.

"Everyone get ready, we shall be going to Meltokio." Lloyd nodded as he opened his eyes, much to the delight of all but the rationalistic professor as the woman only lightly shook her head.

"At least wait until the sun is up then." Raine sighed in defeat. "The security will be heavier at night and there will be no crowds of people to use as cover."

"Is that...alright to you, Presea?" Lloyd asked as he turned his head, looking at the beautiful warrior as she blinked once while looking at Lloyd.

"I...guess we can wait, I wouldn't want to put you all into the line of danger for me." Presea confessed as she slowly lowered her axes, resting their heads back on the ground and leaning them against the sofa.

"I would not go." the voice of a stranger sounded as Lloyd felt his head jerk to the side to see Cecil leaning against the door frame.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd found himself asking first out of the crowd.

"Valemeros is always one step ahead of everyone...he thinks on a different level, how many times do I have to tell you that? You think you want to go to Meltokio but really you are just answering his call to further advance his plan." Cecil huffed out in a tone that sounded a little irritated and Lloyd could only guess it was because in his opinion, the group was acting rashly.

"Oh, so now you are on our side now?" Raine asked sarcastically.

Cecil let out a scoff as he jerked his head to the side. "Prisoner is a more correct term and prisoners tend to talk...do they not?" Cecil remarked as his facial expression twisted in disgust.

"You are not our prisoner." Lloyd reassured.

"Not like it matters...with Monique still unconscious, I am stuck here so might as well be...we have no were to go...Valemeros abandoned us, he discarded Monique and that is something I am finding myself hard to forgive." Cecil confessed. "Heed my words or not, just know that I am warning you not to go...that is what he is counting on."

"You put too much faith in your former master." Raine frowned as she looked over her shoulder at the black haired warrior of Valemeros. "In order for him to plan as much as you think he has, he has to known the mindsets of others...he would need to know Lloyd and how he thinks in order to anticipate his moves and manipulate them to his advantage."

"And who is to say he does not? Valemeros is a lord of Meltokio and adviser to the king. He was there when you all met with the King, each time...watching from the balcony, he knows that Lloyd is an idealist...a man who wished for a peaceful existence without sacrifice, you would be surprised how much a man can get from so little." Cecil informed. "You cannot underestimate just how cunning he is, keep in mind he has also been with the Desians, he has seen Lloyd in action on memory discs...he knows the fundamentals of Lloyd's mind-set and even fighting style."

The words invited a cold shiver to trail up the spine of Lloyd as he heard what the former servant had to say and inform Lloyd of details he had not taken into consideration, everything of which Cecil said not only made sense but could be very probable and it may also explain how Valemeros seemed to instinctively know how to battle Lloyd and how the noble seemed to know how to counter the techniques that Lloyd had mastered over the years...he had been watched, observed and picked apart without even knowing it by a man with sinister intent...a cerebral enemy unlike any which he had fought before and that unsettled the young idealist.

"If Valemeros has everything planned, then that means there is actually a good chance that he actually has Regal...we can't leave him." Lloyd responded, watching Cecil give a casual shrug as he turned and walked out from the doorway; he even noticed Raine lightly shake her head once more before her observant eyes looked back at Lloyd.

"We'll go when the sun is up and hope for more cover in the crowd...but we are going Raine." Lloyd confronted in a more passive aggressive manner, showing his determination and his will at refusing to let a friend be left in the hands of Valemeros.

"I know you are, Lloyd...and I know nothing will change your mind." Raine confessed. "I can't let you go without me looking after you...that is all." Raine stated, confirming that she was not going to leave them but still noting that she was against the attempt to sneak into Meltokio.

"Try and get some sleep everybody." Lloyd called out as he looked to everyone as they all nodded in response. "Staying up all night will only hinder our stamina."

Genis and Raine left the room first as Lloyd let out a light sigh before looking over to Colette and Sheena, watching as the adorable blonde walked up to him and tried to give a reassuring smile.

"You're doing the right thing, Lloyd." Colette spoke in a soft tone as she placed a hand lightly on his arm, causing the young leader to give a small nod.

"I know...get some rest, Colette." Lloyd replied with genuine feeling behind his voice as Colette gave a small nod and looked over his shoulder to Presea. Lloyd seemed to notice as he spoke before the former chosen could speak. "I'll take care of it." Lloyd spoke in a whisper like tone, Colette looked back to him with her caring blue eyes as she gave a nod and turned around slowly to walk out of the room.

Sheena looked like she wanted to say something and Lloyd could tell, but when Colette came close to her and looked at the ninja with her adorable blue eyes, he watched as the ninja melted and she could not resist the silent question from Colette to come with her and Lloyd knew that that would probably lead to some form of woman to woman talk between the two young ladies. Lloyd did not know if to feel comforted or uneasy about that knowledge as he gave Sheena a small smile and comforting nod of his head that allowed Sheena to ease her own tension as she gave him a nod back and let Colette lead her out of the room.

"Are you sure you are alright with this, Presea?" Lloyd asked before slowly turning around to look at the pale beauty that now sat on the end of his bed; she was fiddling with her gloves with an easily detectable uneasy tension about the air around her.

"I...just have a bad feeling about this." Presea confessed as she remembered the vivid images in her dream. "Regal is all I have left...I don't know what I would do if...if he..." she could not bring herself to complete that dreaded sentence as she forced her eyes to the handles of her green axe with golden plated embroidery.

"Everything will be fine, we'll get to Meltokio and put your fears to rest...you know you are never alone anymore Presea. You have us all here for you." Lloyd spoke, meaning every single word he said to reassure the distraught woman.

"You...are a hard man to find." Presea confessed as she glanced up to him.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd wondered for a moment.

"I spent months trying to find you...so I could properly thank you for freeing me from the curse of this exsphere...extending mercy to me and blessing me with the chance to live my own life the way I want to." Presea confessed.

"I couldn't just leave you the way you were...that is no way to live." Lloyd admitted as he gave the woman a comforting sort of smile.

"That is just the type of man you are...I know." Presea whispered out softly as she shifted her gaze for a moment and then forced herself to look at Lloyd, slowly standing up from the end of the bed so she was standing in front of the idealist man. "I admire that about you Lloyd, you know who you are...so much time has passed and this sudden ageing has left me not knowing what type of woman I am to be." Presea confessed in a somewhat bitter tone.

"I don't think that is true." Lloyd found himself blurting out.

Presea responded by allowing her eyes to widen for a moment as she felt the need to ask him what he meant but the man seemed to read her wordless expression.

"You came to our help when we needed you...you selflessly sacrificed yourself for those you cared about to battle a man you knew nothing about...the only thing you did know was that he was our enemy and you trusted us to be in the right. You are a caring woman Presea...who has put value on your companions over everything else...and not everyone can do that." Lloyd defended as he kept his eyes locked onto hers to show he meant every single word that came out of his lips.

"Lloyd...I...thank you." Presea smiled as she lowered her head for a moment. "It just means something to hear someone else say it...hear you say it." Presea spoke, the tone she used made the nerves deep down in his body wash over with what he could best describe as a static buzzing, almost like some premature warning system...he just did not know what until it was too late. The next thing he became aware of was feeling Presea's fingers caress along the fabric of his battle torn red jacket, which he was completely unaware just how battle torn it was from the conflicts of his fights until his eyes looked down to watch as the tips of her fingers seemed to briefly toy with each and every imperfection.

"W-what are you doing?" Lloyd swallowed hard as he seemed to be timid on what the answer would be as he noticed that by pure instinct his left foot tried to step back as if in retreating fashion.

"Paying you back for your kindness...I think it is only fair..." Presea spoke as her voice trailed off for a moment, there was a seductive element in her tone that he did not know the woman was even capable of; like she was acting on pure instinct as well. Presea's fingers glided up to his torn collar as her fingers grasped the material and Lloyd knew right then and there that he could not escape her and what was worse was that he could not find the words...his lips were open but the words seemed to be content staying tucked deep in his throat. His eyes widened for a moment as the female inched every so closer until he was sure the curves of her breasts pressed against the surface of his coat and soon into his body, he could not help but notice once more, now on a different level, that she had evolved into a beautiful and potentially seductive woman on a dangerous level. "That you have my first...kiss of freedom." she whispered, the warmth of her breath against his lips and Lloyd felt that jolt of lightning and nervousness collide together in that moment and he was paralysed in an instant.

The world was being lost to chaos and just moments ago it seemed that Presea would be inconsolable due to her increased worry over Regal and now it seemed like the warrior woman flipped some hidden switch in her mind that allowed her to push all that out for a short while or something that just allowed to bare through the headaches and pain to "reward" the idealist young man. Whatever the case happened to be; Lloyd could not figure it out and his mind refused him the ability to focus on it with Presea closing the distance between them.

The only thing that Lloyd could comprehend was the air of warmth that came from Presea's lips and her half-closed eyes staring deep into the pupils of his bewildered eyes. The next moment washed over Lloyd as a tide wave of fire...and his mind rushed as he could not help but feel that the invasion of fire was unwelcome but yet he was powerless to stop it. The soft yet intimately powerful kiss touched his lips as every muscle in his body tensed and his eyes only opened wider than before...and he did not think that was possible as his hands shot up to grab her shoulders as he felt the conflict of pushing her away and holding back for fear of insulting her.

Presea was obviously not accustomed to kiss another and it showed how clumsy her lips felt against his as she tried to massage her lips over his, but Lloyd didn't really notice either since his own experiences in that field were no better than hers. The next thing that caught his wildly pacing mind was how her body shifted ever so slowly as her hips seemed to grind enticingly against his own as her body melted into his and their forms slowly melded into one. The moment he felt that his fingers tensed around her shoulders as he mustered the strength to snap back to the world...his heart pounded into his chest and the voice deep in his mind told him everything he needed...this was wrong. There was nothing wrong with Presea...she seemed sweet enough and any man would be considered lucky to have her but his mind yelled that she was not the one for him.

"Lloyd...I am sorry but your door was open and I-" Sheena spoke out from the side.

Lloyd was then released from the lips of Presea as the pink haired warrior looked to the side at the source of the intrusion and Lloyd felt his mind race as he knew exactly why Sheena did not complete her sentence...his mind raced to try and find something to say but the words kept to their retreat and refused to surface as Lloyd was only able to bring himself to slowly turn his head over to the entrance of his room and there stood Sheena...staring at them with her wide, bewildered eyes that Lloyd watched transform into what he could only describe as pain as Sheena looked to the side, rubbing the side of her head.

"I...ah...sorry...did not mean to...I mean...well the door...oh, it is getting late isn't it?" Sheena stated in a weak tone, shaken by her surge of emotions as Lloyd slowly closed his eyes as if he could feel her pains deep in his own chest. "I should...uh...sleep...right...sounds...good..." Sheena fumbled while Lloyd opened his eyes again to see her looking anywhere but them before turning on her heel and leaving his sight.

"Sheena...wait..." Lloyd called out as he tried to step towards her but felt fingers still latched to his collar, looking down he noticed Presea was still holding his tattered jacket as he gently placed his hands on her forearms. "Would you mind...uh..." Lloyd lightly tapped her forearms as Presea blinked once and looked back to Lloyd as if she had forgotten where she was as she looked down to her hands and nodded once with a light blush.

"Oh! Sorry." Presea commented as if the hidden childish side of her returned and she became increasingly embarrassed at the proximity of their bodies as she folded her hands behind her back and took a step back

The will to move was there but he just couldn't, he did not know what he would tell Sheena and moreover he did not know exactly why he felt the need to explain everything to her but he did that was all that mattered...finding the right words would be the thing that would haunt him however as he felt his body jerk between taking a step towards the door and taking a step back in retreat which he thought to Presea may look like pacing to some degree.

"I...should go." Presea muttered softly as she walked towards the door; but before making her exit she looked over her shoulder at Lloyd. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble, Lloyd...I...I just wanted to thank you." she chipped in before walking out of the room.

That night, Lloyd spent it in heavy debate as he found himself unable to face Sheena. The only welcome he would get to sunder his rapid thoughts was the morning sun rising from the mountains over the horizon.

Even a morning shower did nothing to ease the tension that Lloyd felt in his body as he slowly pulled the towel from his damp hair. Lloyd looked over at his battered clothing...Valemeros had really torn his jacket to tatters and his muscle shirt was even torn to top it all off. Blinking once he grabbed the jacket from the rack and looked between it and the black muscle shirt along with the white ribbons that dangled down. An idea crossed his mind that he could not ignore as he gave himself a nod.

Lloyd was surprised that he was the first person down to the lobby of the hotel that they stayed at as Lloyd sat against the spine of the sofa and waited with crossed arms. He had all but thrown his jacket away, taking only a tear of the cloth to make an ascot like appearance tied around his neck, his muscle shirt that was tattered along the shoulders was not torn completely down the middle to make like an open shirt that he had tied closed by tucking it into his pants and the appearance itself would resemble that of Mizuho style of fashion that he had seen every now and then, Sheena's own jacket was like that with the front opening. He had used the white ribbons from his jacket and tied it around his wrists in a form of support...the only thing that had kept it's appearance were the pant bottoms.

Lloyd felt his heart stop for a moment as he heard the light patter of steps that he knew could only belong to one woman and sure enough, the purple attire entered his vision as Sheena walked down the stairs and once more she seemed distracted as her eyes looked to the side.

"Sheena..." Lloyd called out to her as he tried to give her one of his best carefree smiles.

"Good morning, Lloyd." Sheena said in a distracted tone as she kept her eyes anywhere but where she heard his voice from.

"Sheena...uh...about last night..." Lloyd commented before he watched as Sheena's hand rose up to silence the young man.

"Don't say anything, Lloyd." Sheena spoke with a sudden sharp tone that actually took Lloyd back a step...but then he watched as her the side of her face that he did see transform from a hint of irritation to a softened expression as she sighed out. "Sorry...I mean...Presea explained everything last night I just...wanted to...well..." Sheena stated nervously as she now looked to the ceiling. "I just wanted to...uh..." she repeated as he could tell she was struggling to find the words she wished to say. "...just that I'm sorry alright? I reacted badly." Sheena muttered out in a quickened voice as her eyes closed as if afraid of the reaction.

The fact that Sheena was the one saying sorry to him both shocked and put Lloyd in a sense of unease, why should she be sorry for something he failed to control? What was it that Presea said to her? Lloyd shook his head once as he spoke to the self-punishing ninja.

"Sheena...don't worry-" Lloyd tried to state but felt himself interrupted by an very flustered and slightly agitated Sheena.

"I'm trying to say sorry here alright? Just accept it!" Sheena blurted out as she turned her eyes from the ceiling to Lloyd and the moment she did, Lloyd watched as her irritation instantly left her body again as he noticed her observing his new style choice.

"Oh...my jacket was torn, so I tried altering my clothes...I'm no tailor so it's nothing spectacular." Lloyd confessed as he watched Sheena's pale cheeks turn a light shade of pink. "What...do you think?" Lloyd tried ask in a cheerful tone.

The moments of silence gave Lloyd all the answers he needed as Sheena seemed to battle with herself to just take her gaze off the sight of Lloyd as she folded her arms and looked to the side finally.

"Trying to rip off Mizuho fashion?" Sheena playfully jabbed with a firm tone that held no aggression behind it.

"Maybe just a little." Lloyd chuckled lightly, seeing the blush return to her creamy features.

"Don't make fun of my people, Lloyd...I may not have been born there...but I was raised there." Sheena accused.

"Heh heh, are you blushing?" Lloyd casually commented.

"What? I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you and there you go and just...just..." Sheena huffed out once as she shook her head. "Idiot."

Lloyd could not help but confess that he did miss her calling him that on one strange and unexplainable level.

"Enough you two." Raine commented as she walked down the stairs with Colette and Genis walking right behind her as always, Raine always commanded respect and she managed to retain her image and aura of teacher over the three of them as Lloyd tensed for a moment and pushed himself off the sofa as if paying his respect to Raine by not sitting in her presence unless she gave him permission to. "We have some serious matters to discuss...like how we are going to get into Meltokio undetected and what our plan of action will be if we can even get into the city...or worse yet, plan for if we get caught." Raine stated, right to business was this white haired half-elf.

* * *

Valemeros placed his hands on the balcony railing as he turned his head towards the gates of Meltokio, spotting the group of royal guard that were escorting the king and the moment that Valemeros considered the king to be well away from the kingdom he turned to the man behind him, wearing a golden mask that covered the top half of his face.

"Chosen." Valemeros uttered out in a respectful tone.

"What is it, Lord Valemeros?" Zelos replied from behind the covering of gold.

"Take command of the Meltokio army and get them to the underground as soon as possible." Valemeros commanded as he looked back to the horizon with an expression of purpose, cold eyes scanning the lands once more.

"What for?" Zelos could not help but question.

"Tell them that we have been getting reports of creatures filling the caves in the hidden catacombs and for the safety of everyone they must be slain." Valemeros responded in casual voice.

"At once." Zelos responded as he placed a hand to his heart in a light bow of his head.

"I want to come with you." Seles uttered.

"It could be dangerous down there." Zelos responded.

"Go ahead, take her with you...but after you get the majority of the army to the catacombs, come right back here..." Valemeros voiced.

"Come...back? What about the soldiers and the monsters?" Zelos added.

"Trust me...you will want to be here, some old friends of yours shall be making their appearance." Valemeros smirked slyly with his back still turned to the two.

Zelos spent the moment in silence as he eyed the noble before giving a nod as he turned to Seles and shifted his head towards the door, leading his sister outside to go through with the commands from the noble who was now in charge of the capital until the king would return.

"Shadow..." Valemeros whispered out as the room became engulfed in darkness and the fiend from the abyss pulled out of the darkness like a creature being born from a black ichor, his body making a light hissing sound as the sinister form pulled free.

"Your calllllliiinnng...Maasssssteeeeer." Shadow whispered with red glowing eyes.

"Conceal this city in eternal darkness...fill the skies with horrors...create portals from the Vanguard into the heart of this city." Valemeros started before looking towards the skies, waving his hand lightly once as he called out. "Volt...Sylph..."

"..." the ancient dialect whispered into the mind of Valemeros as the air crackled to life with static energy that soon formed into the dominate electricity of Volt.

Giggles filled the darkness from behind Valemeros as the mischievous wind spirits swirled out from the dark abyss and floated around the powerful noble, one of the three laying on the balcony as the other two seemed to dance around the elegant in a flutter of joy.

"Volt...I want you to break the skies with your barbs of destruction and do not let up, do not discriminate...strike everything you can...bring down the towers if you must." Valemeros commanded before the orb of storms let out a foreboding call of ancient dialect before the orb spun rapidly and swirled to the skies.

"Sylph...surround this city in hurricane winds after darkness consumes it, make sure none can enter...none can leave until everything is done." Valemeros spoke as he looked down to the only one who was not moving, the one laying down on the railing with her cheek in the palm of her hand, a huge sword resting on her back as she gave a nod. Sephie then pushed herself off the railing as she waved her hands to her sisters, Fairess and Yutis before pointing towards the skies as their giggling forms all rose to the skies to join Volt.

"Shadow...one more thing." Valemeros commented as the being slowly lurched towards his master. "The moment you transport the Vanguard here...cover their eyes in the darkness of deception...make them see all as if they are seeing their enemies...all but each other." Valemeros grinned as he closed his eyes for a moment.

"Yeeeessssss...Masssssteeerr..." Shadow replied before his form melted into the blackness of the room and soon disappeared.

"Luna..." Valemeros whispered before the beautiful woman of the moon materialized beside the man, keeping her head low in a respectful manner. "Battle is something that is to your distaste I know...so I shall not ask you to stay, oh peaceful beauty...but I do ask one thing of you." Valemeros whispered with surprising care and affection in his voice.

"Yes Lord Valemeros? Ask anything." She replied, keeping her eyes closed.

"Grant me knowledge of which my eyes cannot see...tell me when Mr. Irving and his ragtag followers approach our gates so I know when to begin the chaos." Valemeros whispered as he reached over to gently stroke the woman's chin lightly.

"They approach now, Lord Valemeros." Luna whispered as she leaned very lightly into the caress.

"Sooner than even I expected, I knew he would not let me down...and just in time to grant the king the safety he needs away from the city...but yet close enough to watch...watch what the Vanguard shall do to his beloved city." Valemeros grinned as he let his index finger slide off Luna's chin before pressing the tip into the bottom of her chin so he can look into her beautiful eyes. "This is the part you shall want to excuse yourself from." Valemeros assured as Luna gave a nod, fading slowly from sight.

"I have been waiting for you, Mr. Irving...it is a good thing you were never good at keeping me waiting." Valemeros chuckled as he looked to the skies, his purple eyes giving a way a gleam of power before the skies rumbled in answer.

* * *

Lloyd and the rest had to park their rheairds a fair distance away from the capital city to prevent being spotting from any of the gate, wall, or tower patrols and thus make getting closer to the heavily secured city just a touch easier for them all.

"Wh...what's that?" Genis stammered as he pointed towards the skies.

"That is too huge to any birds we have come across." Raine analyzed.

Lloyd glanced towards the skies before he saw what everyone else saw and the sight was enough to take him by surprise as he noticed a huge, eagle-like bird soared through the skies and it was right before his eyes that the terrifying sight unfolded as the skies cracked to life with thunder and the bird that dominated the skies seemed to explode as the bloody parts of the sky master fell away while a splash of blood dripped towards the cites and a bird composed of nothing but darkness now soared through the skies, leaving behind a trail of black dust that would soon blanket the city. It was like this massive bird had somehow concealed it's form inside a host over ten times smaller than it. The massive bird of shadows then flew towards the skies, disappearing into the clouds. The storms only seemed to become enraged more as the darkness claimed every opening of the morning skies and soon hundreds...thousands...millions of wiggling eyes covered the gaps of darkness, like creatures of nightmares looked down upon the capital.

"L...Lloyd..." Sheena whimpered lightly in a way that surprised and worried him enough to pull his eyes away from the horrific visions in the skies.

Lloyd could see Sheena growing even paler than she naturally was, almost sickly as the woman looked to the skies, lightning that snapped through the skies, filling the air with a war cry of nature in the form of thunder...dooming vibrations throughout everyone's body, the entire party jumped on cue to the sonic blast that rang through the skies.

"Shadow...it's Shadow...I can feel it...malice...death...Shadow means to spill blood." Sheena spoke out in a voice trembled by both sickness and fear.

It was an awful sight for Lloyd to see Sheena so shaken as his eyes looked back up towards the skies, but this time he looked at the skies with more of a fiery determination of how he could chase this darkness away from Sheena and bring her back to peace as his fingers gripped hard at the hilts of his swords.

Movement caught his eyes as Lloyd blinked once and looked in front of the group, watching the air in front of them come to life, it was as if he could see the conflict in the air as the winds started to pick up, looking to the ground to notice the wind was also starting to pick up the dirt but yet only in a single fine line and that let his heartbeat take a violent jump as he realized what was happening.

"Everyone quick! A wind barrier is being made around the city!" Lloyd yelled out as he ran forward, he knew it must have surprised everyone but he had to take the chance that no one might not be able to follow him in time...as long as someone was in the city to try and put a stop to it all.

Lloyd took to the air in a daring leap, knowing somewhere in his mind that he could very well be slamming into a solid wind wall; being on the safe side her placed his forearm in front of himself the way someone would to shield their face while breaking through glass. He felt the wind resist but yet separate under his weight as he parted the wall for even a moment, allowing him passage; tucking in his shoulder, he managed to roll on the ground to a kneel as his head looked over his shoulder and to his relief he noticed everyone else managed to follow suit as they all made it through the barrier.

"Well...there is no returning now." Genis commented as he looked over his shoulder, noticing the dirt violently getting tossed around the now powerful gusts of wind.

"I think we were meant to get in." Raine commented as she dusted off her robe lightly while positioning her staff to lean on her shoulder.

"Isn't that what we wanted to do anyways? So I think it's good that they wanted the same thing too then." Colette stated with a hint of optimism in her tone.

"It means we are walking into a trap, Colette." Raine stated in a firm teacher tone.

"Trap or not...it only means that Regal is in danger then, I am going to fine him and then I am going to find that man and make him pay." Presea said with an angered determination.

"Where are the gate guards?" Sheena asked suddenly was she walked up to the front gates.

That would prove to be an excellent question as Lloyd blinked and looked back in front of him to see that the gates were completely abandoned and the emergency gates were not even closed to make up for the fact that the guards were missing, it was like they had left in haste.

About as sudden as the storms engulfed the skies came the screams of terror from within, screams of terror...agony.

"This doesn't feel right." Lloyd stated, he did not mean to state the obvious but he meant that even considering what was happening there was something else that did not sit well with him.

* * *

Valemeros allowed his eyes to scan the chaos that consumed every corner of the city; easily spotting the figures that belonged to the Vanguard as they washed over the city, leaving nothing but blood...and much to the nobles delight it was quickly turning into a sea of blood that flushed along the street gutters.

Bodies of innocent civilians fell upon the blade of the Vanguard as Valemeros couldn't help but let out a gleeful chuckle as he knew that Shadow was making them all see what he wished them to see. They saw soldiers of Meltokio falling to their inexperienced military attack where in reality it was a completely indiscriminate slaughter of men, woman, and children.

"Most of the army are in the catacombs, I have ordered the rest to escort the innocents to safety." Zelos remarked as he walked over to Valemeros and watched the blood bath before him as a wave of disgust filled every corner of his being, enough to force the man to turn his head away as he slowly looked over to Valemeros, leaning in. "Is this really needed?" Zelos asked in a sickened tone.

Valemeros huffed out once, cancelling his chuckling as he looked over to Zelos and gave a subtle nod of his head.

"I would not do such if it were not absolutely necessary to the plan, Chosen. One just has to sit through the darker tasks and bare it for just a little while. Mr. Irving shall be here soon, I assure you and when everything is said and done...you shall have your precious ninja back in your arms." Valemeros reassured before looking back towards the chaos.

Seles started to walk towards the balcony before Zelos stepped forward and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, leading her away from the sights of slaughter that were overcoming Meltokio.

"You have not kept me waiting long yet...I do not believe you shall start now." Valemeros whispered to himself with a sly grin stuck on his face.

* * *

Nothing would prepare Lloyd for what he was forced to see as he swiped his swords through another Vanguard member, watching as blood spilled from their chest, the gurgle of shock before their lifeless bodies hit the ground...dead before the could even make contact.

Lloyd breathed out heavily, looking down to see the once broken swords now reformed into their purple and red energy like blades, dripping with fresh blood before looking over to the slain child and found himself silently cursing himself.

'If only I had been just a little sooner.' Lloyd cussed as he gripped his swords tighter to look over his shoulder at the party, they had spread out far but none of them had lost sight of each other and if they did it was only to run down an alley and return with the same dejected look that Lloyd had on his own face with every failed attempt to save the life of innocent.

"This is just...a slaughter..." Lloyd gritted his teeth for a moment before he heard footsteps behind him, almost light as air and he knew instantly who that was as he looked over to see Sheena. She had a cold, almost lifeless expression that was matched with the lifeless yet pained look locked down deep in her eyes and Lloyd could only remember that she had to live through a slaughter. The slaughter of Luin. Lloyd only ever had to experience the aftermath of such a disgusting act.

Presea could have sworn she heard a bell jingle and at that moment she felt her body tense as her head shot up and she was forced to endure another vision of Regal...hanging in a dungeon cell. The walls began to bleed before Regal's head suddenly lifted, only to wither and die before her and then her vision shattered at that moment and Presea let out a gasp.

"Presea?" Genis called out, looking up to her with a worried expression as Presea shook her head and looked down to the young half-elf.

"I...I need to go to the castle..." Presea spoke softly before her eyebrows furrowed and she spoke with more strength behind it. "I need to go to Regal...it's not too late."

"Presea...no...that is what he wants." Raine stated as she walked up behind Presea. "There are too many people being killed, we can't leave them to be slaughtered like this."

"You won't keep me from him..." Presea suddenly exclaimed before she felt her hands grip around the hilts of her axes as her teeth pressed together and she suddenly felt nothing but numbness through her body. "You CAN'T keep me from him." Presea added as she shot both of the half-elves a cold, almost threatening glance.

"Presea?" Lloyd suddenly uttered as he looked from Sheena to Presea, walking passed Sheena but not before placing a comforting hand on her as he walked down the street until he was within speaking distance of the group. "Presea...what's wrong?"

"Regal needs me, Lloyd...and I intend to go to him." Presea responded coldly.

"It's what he wants...we will be walking right into a trap." Raine replied.

"But we just can't leave him there if Presea is right." Colette spoke softly as she placed a hand to her heart lightly. "Regal is our friend...he has done so much for us, Lloyd we need to save him."

"If it is a trap...then we just need to be ready and do something he will not be expecting." Lloyd called out as he stabbed both his swords into the ground so he could fold his arms in brief thought for a moment. "We'll have to split up." Lloyd decreed with a nod,

"No...that is not an option, we need to stick together." Raine warned.

"It is the only way...if we divide his attention than we can get Regal out of here...I will be that distraction...I'll head to Valemeros's manor and take his attention from the rest of you." Lloyd stated with a tone that was filled with a sense of purpose.

"Lloyd no..." Sheena whispered, placing her hand on his shoulder. It pained Lloyd to do so but he ignored her plea as he continued to speak.

"I will confront the man long enough so the rest of you can free Regal...don't worry about me, I will distract him for only as long as you all need." Lloyd tried his best to reassure his friends before the thought entered his mind. '_Or at least as long as I am able to._' Lloyd bitterly confessed.

If the noble was anywhere as powerful as he was last time then it would not look good for the swordsman if he stood up to him alone and it would be even worse if the man had somehow become even more powerful than last time.

"Everyone, go with Presea to the castle...I will go towards Valemeros's manor and distract him." Lloyd called out in a tone that carried both a determination and confidence.

"Just so long as you remember that you are only trying to distract him, Lloyd...don't get carried away and get yourself in too deep." Raine responded before looking to Presea.

Presea gave a determined nod as she lowered both her axes and walked down the street, not giving much time for any goodbyes, she wanted to get to Regal as soon as possible...every second that passed could be the difference between life and death.

"Lloyd...be careful...please." Colette pleaded in her soft toned way before she was forced to run down the street to rejoin the rest.

Lloyd let out a sigh as he looked to the direction of which he was supposed to go, giving a nod before he grabbed both his swords, freeing them from the ground.

Before the man could take his first step forward he stopped for a moment due to someone being caught in his peripheral vision. Lloyd turned his head to see Sheena standing there, looking at him with a energy of nervousness around her as she lowered her head for a moment under his gaze.

"Sheena...You need to catch up to everyone." Lloyd spoke out lightly, finding his only reply being the light shake of the woman's head.

"I'm not going anywhere...not without you, Lloyd." Sheena confessed as she swallowed hard. "You don't understand how many times I almost lost you because of that man...I...I won't let happen again." Sheena called out suddenly, emotion pouring out in every word.

Lloyd did not know what to say to that, she spoke the truth and he knew it. The emotion hit him like a punch to the face and it left him defenceless as he could only give a subtle nod.

"Alright Sheena...come on, whatever we face we shall face together then." Lloyd offered, watching Sheena's facial expression transform from a timid fear to a relieved ease as she left out a deep breath and gave a nod in return.

In a way, Lloyd was glad that Sheena was beside him...she gave him strength at times he thought he would be all out of it. Her soft footsteps neared as she stood by his side, Lloyd managed a small smile as he gave the woman a nod and turned his head back into the direction of the manor.

Lloyd spotted the tall manor. His eyes travelling to the top where he could roughly make out a balcony and he could swear that he could see it, his mind painted him the picture of Valemeros...leaning there on the balcony, waiting for Lloyd and he did not intend to keep the noble waiting, he would end this once and for all among the blood and fire of Meltokio.


	39. Darkness falls, lives are lost

Chapter 39

Sheena did her best to battle the tremor that jolted through her body, invading deep into her bones and waking nerves she was not even aware she had. The closer they got the manor the more she could swear she felt a chill run through her body; that wave of nerves always added another small weight on her heart, making it harder for it to beat normally.

The manor looked bigger, foreboding and tower-like as the both of them stood in the courtyard that belonged to Valemeros. Sheena bit her lip lightly as her brown eyes glanced over to see the rough determination of Lloyd Irving and that alone gave her the strength, taking in a deep breath, the purple ninja exhaled slowly and glanced up the looming structure.

The sight she saw was enough to thin her blood for that one moment, each heart beat she swore she could feel the blood flushing through her veins as she held her breath for a moment; standing on the balcony above, cold lavender eyes staring down at them, hands gripping the railing happened to be the half elven noble Valemeros.

"Lloyd..." Sheena whispered as she kept her eyes locked on the elegant noble.

"I see him." Lloyd replied back in a tone of determination that had that magical hold over Sheena, she noticed that many times about Lloyd...it was a trait of a true leader to be able to fill their allies with strength and resolve when they were at their lowest.

Valemeros seemed to narrow his eyes for a moment as the noble twisted on his heel, his robes floating behind him as he disappeared from sight. Sheena fed off the strength she felt from Lloyd as she slide her fingers gracefully into her tunic before looking over to Lloyd.

"Think you can keep up, Lloyd?" Sheena managed to find the playful arrogance to challenge him as Lloyd blinked once and looked over to her before giving her a determined nod.

A shimmer of light sneaked through the opens of her tunic before Sheena pulled out a white seal, putting her index and middle fingers together she placed her hands in front of her while crossing her fingers, keeping the seal pinched between her fingers before the seal gave away another shimmer of light as it floated to the palm of her hand; the seal seemed to multiply as the seals forced a circle around her, side by side the seals transformed from one to dozens as she held her breath for one moment before uncrossing her fingers as she turned her eyes back to Lloyd.

Lloyd gave her one nod to let her know he was ready as Sheena took a step forward, snatching one of the seals. The world seemed to move in slow motion now as Sheena could feel every heartbeat like a gentle thunder in her mind as her delicate fingers touched along the first seal as she claimed the first seal and pulled it back before tossing the seal into the air, before the seal could reach its destination she grabbed the next and repeated the motion, just tossing the next one at a different location. Sheena repeated this motion and every time she grabbed a seal the others slide over to take its place before she had depleted the entire circle.

"Where...did you learn to do that?" Lloyd marvelled as he stepped in close to a near breathless Sheena.

Sheena reached up to gently brush the hair from her left eye, looking over to Lloyd before looking up to double check where she had throw all her seals. She let out a gentle breath of reassurance to see that every seal was in place. The seals floated there in place, creating a staircase that led up to the balcony that was at the top of the manor; each seal was perfectly spaced so it would be a comfortable jump for the both of them to leap from one seal to the next.

"Igaguri taught me that technique very long ago." Sheena breathed out once before casting Lloyd a side glance. "It does not last long before the energy in the seals fade, we have to be quick." Sheena informed before pulling her glove tighter to her hand. "Which is why I asked if you were ready." Sheena passively challenged; she did not even give the swordsman a chance to respond as she took the initiative by leaping to the first seal and gracefully bounced from that seal to the next in a weightless fashion as she locked eyes on the edge of the balcony that was about eight stories high.

Sparing a split second glance over her shoulder, she confirmed that Lloyd was actually keeping up with her and from the moment she glanced at him she noticed he seemed to do it almost effortlessly. Lloyd possessed a grace that amazed her almost as much as his idealist heart did.

Sheena pushed her right foot off the seal to bounce to the last seal before she reached up with both hands, grabbing the edge of the cold stone as she flipped in the air before landing to a kneel, feeling the light thud of Lloyd landing right beside her as she slowly raised to her feet. Their target, Valemeros, was always walking into the manor with his hands folded casually behind his back and if she did not know any better she could swear that she heard him peacefully humming to himself dispute the fact that the city of his birth was engulfed in the flames of blood and chaos.

The fact that Valemeros was taking the chaos he started with such casual stride infuriated Sheena as she felt her muscles tense for a moment and her teeth pressed together before she slide her fingers into her tunic once more, pulling out three separate seals and pushed off her right foot.

"Valemeros!" Sheena called out in unbridled fury, suddenly all her uncertainty and nervous energy transformed into a fiery will of the warrior she was trained to be.

The patter of her footsteps suddenly halted as she felt Valemeros's laughter echo in her mind, melding together with the call from the dark tone of Shadow.

'Daaaarrrrrrkkkkkknnneeesssss.' Shadow whispered, his call entangled with the laughter of the half noble as Sheena pressed her heels into the stone surface of the nobles' balcony.

A curtain of darkness draped down in front of her as the ninja lost complete sight of Valemeros and she did not dare step into black screen. She could feel the cold chill that could only be linked to the energy of Shadow as her head twisted to glanced over her shoulder.

"Llo-" Sheena voiced out before seeing nothing but darkness behind her. All the fire she felt in her chest instantly became snuffed out as her anger and courage faded in that instant when she realized that she was completely engulfed in the shroud of darkness imposed on her by Shadow; she could not even see the floor at her feet anymore.

"Lloyd?" Sheena called out, hoping to hear some form of response.

Daring herself to take a few steps through the unknown, Sheena knew she did not have much of a choice. Her eyes could only see blackness in every direction and the only thing she could see was her own body.

"Lloyd...answer me." Sheena called out.

The muscles in her chest tightened as she felt the urge to cry out suddenly when the feeling of her skin split open at the shoulders as she instinctively grabbed her shoulder, feeling a warm liquid coat her fingers. Observation revealed to her that she had been cut across her shoulder, the fabric of her tunic already torn and blood-soaked from the blood that already spilled from the gash.

Mocking laughter could be heard from the darkness, a laughter that did not sound like Valemeros or Shadow, the darkness altered the laughter but not enough for Sheena to mistake it for the voice to belong to a male as she looked around her as if hoping to see something.

The burning sensation returned, but this time the trial of fire was left across her hip as she felt another gash rip open, this one was deeper than the wound on her shoulder and actually caused Sheena to buckle under her weight as she let out a grunt of agony. The torture of the darkness allowed her to see her own blood spill out from her body and touch against the ground before her blood disappeared from sight.

The voice was now speaking to her, mocking her and taunting her but the darkness made it so she could not even understand what the voice was saying, only that something was being said. Sheena tried to push herself to her own feet as she pulled her hand away from her shoulder, the seals now soaked in her own blood as she lifted them to eye level and focused the seals to glow, trying to at least mount some form of defence.

With a flash of steel showing from the darkness, blood erupted from the back of Sheena's hand as it forced her to drop her seals, her face twisting in agony as she her hand tensed and and her fingers cramped under the disabling wound.

Laughter was the only response she got as the ninja pulled her hand close to her body, letting the blood soak into the stomach of her tunic.

'_A foe that attacks under the cloak of darkness...how can I—_" Sheena started before her eyes widened as she felt the pressure of a sword being driven into her other shoulder, this was not a swiping cut but actually impaling the blinded ninja as she felt flesh and muscle tear under the brutal edge of the weapon being used to deliver her to her demise. A breathless gasp escaped her parted lips as the weapon slide out of her body and Sheena's knees instantly buckled as she crashed to the ground, putting her wounded hand forward to stop her from completely succumbing to her wounds.

* * *

"Hold!" A knight called out before a grunt echoed through his helmet as his body became airborne, flinging through the air before his armoured frame slammed into the stone wall.

Genis glanced over his shoulder as he noticed a small group of four knights rushing to their location, all of them with their weapons drawn as he turned his body and started flipping the ball in the air, although many would consider such an action as a distraction from their spell chants, it actually focused Genis as he closed his eyes for a moment.

The kendama shimmered blue as Genis's eyes opened, a light frost glazing over the handle of the kendama before Genis raised his hand high into the air. The air thickened with a lung freezing chill as the knights stopped their advance the moment that they felt their armour grew a layer of frost.

"Absolute!" Genis called out as the air developed trails of frost for that brief moment before the pillars of ice formed together, freezing the knights on spot; nothing more than a second passed before the pillars cracked and shattered violently. The knights dropped to the ground motionless as Genis spun his kendama once before sliding it into his belt behind him.

Presea darted down the stairs that led to the dungeons, her eyes locked onto the two guards that noticed her presence instantly as they both reached for the hilts of their swords as Presea started by slamming one axe down to the ground. The axe destroyed the dungeon ground as Presea used the axe as a weight, her dash transferred into the hilt that sent her body airborne as she twirled once towards the two knights, the axe ripping from the ground as Presea slammed both axes in between the two knights causing an explosion of debris, the force throwing the knights back against the wall as the ground shards sliced through their armour, the waves of force also crushed the gate that the two were guarding.

"Whoa." Genis uttered as he bounced down the stairs.

Presea breathed out in a heavy growl as she slowly pulled her frame up from the crouch as her head turned from one side to the other to look at the knights, one laid motionless on the ground with his armour crushed by the sheer force of the pink haired warriors attack as the other knight gave a wet grunt that echoed inside his helmet, a moist cough escaping their mouths with the light sound of a splatter being heard; the knight was obviously bleeding internally as they gently clawed against the ground as if trying to pull themselves away from the infuriated warrior.

The gates crumbled to the ground as Presea pulled both axes from the ground and did not even hesitate as she walked over the debris and disappeared into the dust, ignoring the call that sounded from both Raine and Genis behind her.

Presea did not know what was guiding her, but something told her to ignore the first few dungeon doors as she dashed down the hallway and locked her eyes on one door and one alone as she pushed her foot into the stone floor so she came to a stop at the iron bound door. Presea dropped the axe composed of perfectly polished stone and grabbed the green and golden axe with both hands as she let out a battle cry as she swung with unbridled strength as the axe blasted through the stone frame before shattering the reinforced door.

With a hesitate breath, Presea dropped the axe to the ground as she nervously stepped into the darkened room. Presea could not help but bite into her lip as she saw a rough silhouette that matched her vision exactly as she felt her lips part for a moment and she could not be certain if she whispered out Regal's name or not but she thought she did as she stepped into the room. Tensing one fist closed, Presea slammed her fist into the wall as the crystal spheres burned to life and illuminated the chamber to reveal the horrific sight that Presea had hoped with false.

"R...Regal..." Presea whimpered as she reached out to his limp body before her.

A flash of pain jolted up her legs, it took a moment for Presea to even realize that her knees had buckled as she inched towards the body before she shifted over on her knees, spotting the dagger left in his gut as she desperately grabbed the cold hilt and pulled the bloody edge out of his body as if it had some magical property that would bring Regal back to life if removed. Her heart was disappointed to realize that the body before her did not move as her lips trembled as fear and sorrow dominated her body, making the once ferocious warrior tremble like a little child lost in the winter wastelands.

"Regal...Regal..." Presea's tear-filled voice whimpered as she wrapped around arms around his waist and pulled the hanging noble towards her as she held onto him in a tearful plea for the noble to not leave her...she could not stand losing another father figure in her life.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pressed her cheek against the now cold skin of Regal, her nails digging into his lower back lightly as her eyes shut closed. Every tear that fell from her eyes was like a shard of her heart being torn from her being as she felt herself robbed of the will to even live for that moment in time.

She wasn't fast enough...and that cost her a man that meant everything to her.

* * *

Sheena yelped once more as blood spilled from another wound across her leg, this gash was one of now a dozen that were almost perfectly placed throughout her body. This threat did not just want her die; but wanted her to bleed out as her unseen foe inflicted as much agony as possible. Blood started to soak her tunic as she felt herself being robbed of strength as every wound bleed out with every second that passed.

'_This is how I am going to die?_' Sheena thought fearfully as she tried to push herself up to her feet again, fighting against the agony of the crippling wounds that sliced her legs open. The damaged muscles flared in protest as Sheena trembled in pain to put herself up right.

The voice from the darkness spoke again and this time Sheena could tell it was a form of both mockery and annoyance that Sheena was still able to push herself up. Sheena grunted as she opened one eye through the agony and tried to look in the direction of which the voice was coming from; only to have her lips open in a breathless gasp as a deep cut split open a new wound across one of her hamstring as her weight instantly caused her knee to buckle and this time there was nothing to stop Sheena from crashing to the ground as she fell backwards and hit the floor hard, her head bouncing off the hard surface that instantly caused her mind to blur for a moment and she knew at that moment that her mind was battling going into an unconscious state.

'_No...if I...sleep now...I won't wake up_...' Sheena panicked as she focused hard. '_I cannot die here.._.' Sheena grunted as she found a hidden reserve of strength buried deep inside herself as she placed her bloody hands against the floor and struggled to push herself up.

The sound of her enemy was heard once more but Sheena did her best to push it out of her mind as she tried to figure a way to at least defend herself. She could not die...she could not leave Lloyd now. She had to live...for herself and...for him.

'_There will be times when your eyes cannot help you...so never depend on that which has betrayed you._' a familiar voice rang in her mind as Sheena's eyes widened instantly. '_Igaguri?_' Sheena thought out loud before realizing it was a memory flashback as she remembered back when she was a young little girl being trained by Igaguri, the vivid memory played through her mind.

'_What do you mean? My eyes are always here._' Sheena asked in a tone of an innocent, curious, and inquisitive child.

'_Just because they are there does not mean they will always be helpful._' Igaguri replied.

'_I never understand what you mean._' Sheena pouted.

'_Then let me show you._' Igaguri called as he pulled out a length of cloth to act as a blindfold.

Sheena remembered the weeks it took for her to understand that Igaguri was trying to trying to teach her something and was not just being mean by blindfolding her and lightly striking her with a kendo stick. Her master was teaching her how to defend herself without her eyes and it took her weeks to understand the principle and a couple of years to understand the art.

She remembered back to the day when she first successfully blocked the attacks from Igaguri, the moment when she grabbed the swinging kendo stick with her gloved hand, slowly lifting her blindfold with the opposite hand to look up to Igaguri, that moment she saw him give her that warm smile let her know she was on the right path.

As sudden as the memory struck her was exactly how sudden she was snapped back into the dangerous reality of her situation as she let out one more gasp and then blinked once.

'_My eyes...have betrayed me...so forget I even have them. Igaguri...you taught me this._' Sheena thought to herself as she slowly closed her eyes, depending completely on her other senses and hoping her years of being out of practice would not cost her her life.

Sheena managed to push herself to her feet once more, putting most of her weight on her one good leg, being any weight on her damaged leg would cause enough agony to make her knees buckle once more and she could not afford that right now.

_'Igaguri...guide me this one time._' Sheena thought to herself as she managed to control her breathing, going from ragged and reckless to a calm and controlled state as she let out a soft breath and eased the muscles in her upper body. The echoed taunting continued to sound around her as Sheena slowly lowered her arms in her meditative state and it was like someone had just opened the door in her ears as she heard the voice clear enough to understand.

"You could never love him as much as I can! I am done toying with you...just going to get rid of you now." the haunting voice spoke, all taunting absent from the tone as it took on a more grave meaning. The voice...Sheena could not help but notice that the voice had a tone of familiarity to it.

"Bye bye, Sheena."

Sheena would not let herself be slain by this enemy clocked in the dark shadows that easily. Keeping her eyes closed she now focused as much as she could, her eyebrow gave a slight twitch when she heard the footsteps advancing towards her, nearing closer as the air parted around the edge of the sword that the foe carried.

'_There!_' Sheena's mind yelled as she saw a very rough silhouette emerge in her mind and Sheena reacted accordingly as she pulled out a seal, this would be her now or never moment...do or die. Sheena saw the swing of the sword in her mind as she ducked the fatal blow that was meant for her and used the one opening she had of the unseen enemy; slamming her palm into the gut of the womanly figure she heard the shape in her mind grunt out breathlessly as the seal snapped to life and the seal burst in a surge of electricity as the grunt transformed into a scream as the energy filled her form before sending her attacker backwards.

'_Now...to part the darkness._' Sheena called out as she pulled out another seal and used a combination of hand gestures, the seal multiplied and floated into the air, Sheena did not even need to have her sight as the seals would place themselves. The seals fell to the ground on all sides of Sheena before each seal shot out a bright light connecting each seal together. The seals erupted in a bright flash as Sheena opened her eyes slowly and she watched as the darkness slowly tore apart, like she was stepping back into the world again and the sight that waited her on the other side was one she was not prepared to see...the face of her enemy.

"Se...Seles?" Sheena uttered out in shock as she staggered to regain her balance on her one good leg.

Seles was shot down by the force of the lightning seal, sending the young and beautiful Wilder against the railing of the balcony, the woman was in pain as she slowly tried to push herself back to her feet and Sheena knew that the aliment that was afflicting her also lowered her pain thresh-hold, making Sheena feel guilty for striking the maiden down.

"How...how did you see me beyond Shadow's darkness?" Seles uttered out in both shock and suppressed pain. She slowly recovered, pushing herself back to her feet while tightening her hold on her deceptively board edged sword.

Seeing the width of the sword made Sheena instinctively look down at her shoulder as she realized just how big the stab wound actually was and looking down at her shoulder also allowed her to glance at the ground and she was horrified to see how much of her blood was spilled on the ground below.

"Seles...don't do this." Sheena pleaded with the misguided woman.

"Silence! You have taken my brother away from me for too long...you don't even love him and you never could...not as much as I do!" Seles screamed out suddenly.

"Seles...please listen to me." Sheena urged.

"The time for talk has long passed...I stood by silent for too long as you stole my brother from me...well today I get him back!" Seles confronted as she twisted her grip on her sword. "With your death."

Before Sheena could respond and try and calm the enraged woman down, Seles went on the attack once more, launching herself in a driven yet very open charge at the ninja. Seles was counting on the fact that Sheena was too wounded and lost too much blood to be able to effectively defend herself from the finishing blow. Sheena staggered once as she felt her nerves shatter at being able to do anything to take the offence against Seles. Sheena however could not just stand there and allow herself to be killed by Seles, she had to find someway of disabling the angered woman and spare her life so both Lloyd and her could try and bring Seles back to her senses.

Seles picked up her pace as Sheena glanced to the ground, the seals were still there and it was then she had an idea as Sheena clapped both her hands together, forcing through the pain of her bloodied and battered body as the seals at the ground burst in another flash of bright light. Sheena had closed her eyes and when she heard the yelp of protest from her aggressor she opened her eyes once more, only to see Seles emerge from the bright light in a blind charge.

The sight surprised Sheena as her eyes widened and her survival instinct kicked in as Sheena quickly shoved her hand into her tunic and pulled out another seal, shoving her palm forward as she slammed it right into the charging Seles. The woman grunted in shock before she tried to swing her sword, using Sheena's palm as a locator of where the ninja was standing. The seal shimmered to life as the glow that peaked out from Sheena's hand revealed it to be red and Sheena could not help but feel that slight panic enter her heart once more; a pyre seal would hurt the woman way too much with how volatile and violent the blast was.

With a eruption of embers, the seal tore into pieces as Seles screamed while her body was shot back into the blinding white light that Sheena's seals had caused. Sheena watched as Seles's sword flung from her hands thanks to the force of the blast.

The white curtain ended the moment Seles disappeared from sight and Sheena watched as Seles was thrown back; but yet the woman somehow managed to land on her feet as she stumbled back in her futile attempt to stop her body from being flung. It was like watching a person trying to stop themselves from being tossed in hurricane winds. Sheena's heart thundered once in her chest as she realized that Seles would not be able to stop herself in time before reaching the end of the balcony. Sheena stepped forward as she tried to reach out for Seles before her knees buckled thanks to her grievous wounds and Sheena fell face first to the stone floor. Widened eyes watched as Seles battled hard before her legs hit the balcony railing and everything slowed down as the look of horror on Seles's face was burned into Sheena's mind before the young maiden dropped out of Sheena's sight...the scream of terror echoed in Sheena's mind before the scream was suddenly silenced.

Sheena's nerves trembled in a mix of agony and horror as she dragged her nails across the stone before slowly and painfully pushing herself to at least support herself on all fours.

She feared the sight she would see as she crawled towards the edge of the balcony, pulling herself up the railing as she regretfully peaked over the edge and there she saw the motionless Seles, laying on the stairs below, a small stream of blood already spilling from the once beautiful form as Sheena's eyes widened in horror, tears welling up quickly as all strength and resolve bleed out of her body...just like the liquid of life that spilled out of her deep wounds.

"Se...Seles..." Sheena squeezed out before closing her eyes in emotional torment before sliding away from the railing, unable to take the gruesome sight anymore. Curling up in a ball as she rested her forehead against her forearms.

Down below, the lights in Seles's eyes faded.


	40. Memories and a mask

**Chapter 40**

_Note: I can not believe I am writing chapter 40, seems so surreal. Thank everyone for their support and I am sorry for the long leave of absence. Life has been quite relentless in keeping me busy. Without any more delay; I bring you the continuation. This is my belated Christmas present to Fanfiction and I promise more now that I am back on the story...and this time I promise to complete it._

Lloyd's head snapped from side to side, a subconscious side of him hoping that he could make sense of the darkness if he spent just a few moments observing the blinding curtain. The only thing he could be certain of was that he was standing on some form of solid ground and for some reason he could see himself perfectly, it was just the surroundings that were blocked from his sight. This could only be the enchanting darkness cast by the summon spirit Shadow.

One thing that hit Lloyd in that moment was just how skillfully Valemeros managed to use an art that had not been manipulated for countless years before Sheena came along and managed to break their bonds to Mithoes.

With a hard swallow, the red swordsman forced his legs to move forward, one step at a time. What came as a surprise to him was that he seemed to walk right through the darkness, like the black cloak was only effecting a certain area...or perhaps someone wanted him to be able to walk through. He quickly took in his surroundings as if expecting that the sphere acted as a form of teleportor; however, he sooner discovered that he was still on the balcony of the twisted noble. As if to prove his point further, Lloyd looked ahead of himself and saw the flowing cloak of Valemeros as the noble retreated into the massive manor.

The moment that he saw the noble he had to fight the urge to dash at the man and draw his swords; but there was also that part of his mind that wanted to reach out to him and try and speak some sense to him. Eyes darting around his surroundings once more as he tried to search for Sheena and ease his mind with the knowledge that she was with him but all that greeted him was the darkness still looming behind him...covering his only known exit.

Seems like the darkness was not meant to confuse him or disorient him...the darkness was meant to reassure that Lloyd faced Valemeros alone.

Gathering his resolve, Lloyd rested his hands on the hilts of his swords as he dashed forward a few paces before calling out the name of the man who was responsible for the slaughter that was taking place in the city outside the confines of the stone walls...this man was bathing in the blood of the innocence and his reasons were still eluding Lloyd...he had to know and he had to at least try and speak with Valemeros.

"Valemeros!" Lloyd yelled out as he pressed his feet into the fine embroidered carpet.

Like a punch to the gut was the only sensation close to what he felt when he saw Valemeros pause for a moment when the half-elf heard the mention of his name and the regal man did a half-turn as he glanced over at Lloyd with an arched eyebrow of amusement.

"Mr. Irving...like the scenery? Has just about enough crimson for an enchanting painting...wouldn't you agree?" Valemeros spoke in a tone that gave away that the half-elf was trying to mask his cheer.

The fact that it was a genuine cheer was what disturbed Lloyd most about it.

'_Cold...calculating...and if I did not know any better I would say he is growing more insane with every conversation we have_.' Lloyd bitterly thought.

Lloyd slide his fingers into the pocket of his red pants as his eyes slowly narrowed while he let his lips part to speak to the noble. "Valemeros...you need to stop this. I know what you are trying to do and this is not the way."

"You know what I am trying to do? Somehow...I do not believe you on that one." Valemeros cackled before he slowly turned around as if ready to resume his stride.

"Then you will believe me if I say I know 'why' you are doing this...or at least I know what your first drive was...what that turned into was a twisted hate you could not control." Lloyd argued as he watched Valemeros while the noble continued his casual stride once more.

The man did not even bother answering Lloyd beyond anything but a scoff that echoed through the finely decorated study of the manor.

"You and I have more in common than you think." Lloyd called out in a bitter tone as he pulled something out of his pocket. The only clue being the light jingle of the golden chain that now hung from his clutched fist before raising his hand up and hurled the object in the direction of Valemeros.

Valemeros's hand shot up as he grasped the item while it was in mid-flight, the golden chain whipped from momentum as it laced around his wrist, bouncing off his robe before the chain dangled below like a swaying tail.

It took a long two seconds for the noble to open his hand, as if discovering what object the golden chain tail lead to; revealing a glint of gold from the pendant. Valemeros stared at the item as if it were slowly drawing him under a spell.

Every second that passed made Lloyd desperate to notice even the smallest bit of readable reaction from the half-elf noble, if the pendant could catch the man off guard just long enough for Lloyd to figure out how to approach him next...but the noble surrendered nothing from his seemingly vacant stare.

"It belonged to your mother." Lloyd spoke in a solemn tone, loud enough for the man to hear him as the noble stared silently at the glittering craving in his gloved hand. "To your birth mother." Lloyd added in as if Valemeros would somehow mistake it.

Valemeros felt a slight burning sensation on the back of his hand, that was enough to break his trance on the gold in his hand as he reached up to pull the leather patch that covered his black exsphere as if exposing it to air would cool it down...his eyes not leaving the figurine.

"You loved your mother." Lloyd uttered out, daring to inch his way closer to the twisted noble. "That figurine design...it's stitched into your cape." Lloyd pointed out.

"Nutae." Valemeros whispered.

"We found it...at the lab where it all began with you...the Atrum Project."

Valemeros felt the muscles in his jawline tense, for a split moment, the exsphere embedded in his hand flickered a pale blue before being consumed by blackness once more.

* * *

The memories where very faint to Valemeros as he remembered the slender features of an elven woman looking down at him as she whispered something to him; something that he cursed himself for being unable to remember; the only thing he could remember were the tears that lined her eyes.

Valemeros was just a little boy at the time of this memory, just on the edge of being too young to remember the images they experience...unless those images managed to cause a traumatic experience on the little child...which this one did.

Only thing that could be remembered was that the little boy enjoyed the soft words of the woman who was speaking to him which might have suggested that maybe she was singing him a soft lullaby or comforting the little boy from a nightmare.

Light soon invaded the room and all he remembered were dull screams as the elven woman's head jerked to look over her shoulder and her hands placed themselves on the edges of the crib as she called out in return before pairs of hands grabbed the woman...yanking her from his vision and that would be the last time he saw that woman for years to come.

As the little boy aged into a playful young spirit he remembered what his father and mother, whenever he would get too energetic, they would both seat him down and remind him he was the son of a noble.

Both parents always encouraged that he grow his hair long and always styled it to cover his ears, he did not understand nor did he notice what they were doing back then. As a child you do not catch onto things as subtle as such compared to when you mature and things suddenly become more obvious to the eyes of your mind.

The mother he embraced while growing up with his father was a woman who genuinely loved him as her own but there was always something off about the beautiful human mother that he never understood as a child. She always looked at him like he had done something wrong or he was hurting her in some way...which made him try to please her as much as he could...make her happy.

That look never faded however.

"Father, why do I have the same ears as the slaves? Why can't I talk to them about it?" A young Valemeros asked his father as the man wrote into his tome. Valemeros knew he was never supposed to talk about his ears and every time he did it made his father angry. He preferred his fathers anger than ask his mother and see her cry, that just broke his heart.

"What did I tell you, boy?" An irritated father asked.

"I won't stop asking until you tell me." Valemeros debated with shaken courage, a voice trying to sound strong when addressing a man you did not want to anger.

"You are too young to understand." He snapped lightly as he lowered his head as if trying to focus more on what he was writing.

"Is there something wrong with me?" Valemeros wondered as he looked around, finding his courage slowly liquidating by the second.

"No." The father snapped out bitterly.

Valemeros felt himself surrender as he lowered his head slightly and turned around, making his way out of the room before he heard the more warming tone of a father.

"Boy." His father called out lightly, causing Valemeros to turn around to face his father respectfully. "Come, take a knee." he followed as he turned his chair and patted his knee in a welcoming manner.

It did not take long for the young half-elf to rush over and practically leap onto his father's welcoming knee as he shifted slightly to get comfortable.

"Oh...you are becoming a big boy, aren't you?" the father chuckled lightly. "No listen closely. There is nothing wrong with you...you are my son and I know you will make father proud...you just need to do one thing for me, think you can do that?" He asked warmly.

Valemeros nodded his head energetically with an impish smile.

His father did something he had never done for as long as Valemeros's young little mind could remember as his father pushed his hair back to reveal his ears, lightly touching them in a very timid manner at first. Never had his father been timid about anything but he was being very careful with his ears.

"Keep this hidden, there are many people out there that would hurt you for having them."

"Why?" Valemeros's mind wondered.

"It is just how it is, it is how life is." His father uttered.

"Well...you're powerful, change it." Valemeros smiled playfully.

That caused his father to give a light laughter as he shook his head lightly.

"I do not have that much power, boy." his head turned to the side slightly as he muttered out lightly. "No one does, not even the King...that is just how it is."

"Maybe I can change it then." Valemeros innocently asked.

"Yeah maybe." The father laughed out as he lightly patted the top of Valemeros's head. "Well until you do then, promise me you won't talk about it or show anyone, can you do that?"

Valemeros's only responded with a rapid nodding of his head.

"Good boy." The father replied. "Oh...and do not bring this up with mother, it is hard on her enough as it is."

"Why? What did I do wrong?"

"You do not do anything wrong, boy...I did."

* * *

Valemeros shifted slightly in discomfort while staring at the golden pendant, his fingers tightening around the golden chain as his eyes narrowed for a moment in annoyance.

* * *

Skipping along the rocks in the courtyard of the manor, Valemeros gave a light chuckle at his own little personal game of pretending the grass was an abyss that he could not let himself fall down into. Valemeros looked to one rock that was a fair distance away and breathed out in a deep manner before taking the leap of faith. The tips of his toes landed on the edge of the rock as he let out a desperate grunt as he tried to regain his balance. One last futile attempt came with the circular flail of his arms before his weight shifted and he fell backwards.

Clashing with a solid object, Valemeros grunted as he felt two supportive hands stopping him from falling off the rock, the young man was steadied and pushed lightly onto the rock. "Easy there, little noble." a voice sounded as Valemeros whipped his head around to see the source.

"W-who are you? How did you get in here?" Valemeros demanded as he frowned and did his best to raise his chin with his own false courage.

"You have quite the life here...for a half-elf." The man mused as he walked passed Valemeros, towards the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

"W-what?"

"Many half-elves would love to be accepted among the world of humans as much as you have been." The man with short purple hair spoke in a calm yet eerie manner; his green cloak floating lightly with every movements the man made.

"I asked your—" Valemeros started before he looked to the mans head, noticing the same style of elongated ears coming out the sides of his purple hair and soon realized the man was just like him, Valemeros instinctively brought his hands up to touch his own ears underneath his hair.

"You know what I am...you know what you are, but you are constantly lied to and told to be a good little boy and play along with the human games." the man spoke out in a whisper before the man looked over his shoulder, the setting sun making the crimson lens of his glasses glow in an ominous way as the man suddenly let a wide grin creep across his face. "Yes...you just might do...once you are enlightened that is."

"What...what are you talking about?" Valemeros shivered once when he noticed the wide grin on the mans face.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Rodyle, and I am going to be one of your new best friends." Rodyle spoke, if it were possible his grin only widened as he slowly folded his arms over his chest, looking down at the young Valemeros.

"What do you want?" Valemeros swallowed nervously as he stepped off the rock.

"Such a loaded question...where to start." Rodyle uttered in personal amusement. "How about...we start with the truth? Something you have been denied." Rodyle responded with the wheels in his head turning already for his secret agenda.

"The...truth?" Valemeros blinked once, his nerves caught between the will to stay and the urge to turn and take flight from this mysterious man.

"But to know the truth...you must first keep a secret." Rodyle spoke out.

"Wh—what secret is that?" Valemeros wondered.

Rodyle raised a hand as he placed his index to his own lips, his grin still a dominate feature on his face as he made the silencing sound before lowering his finger. "Tell no one...that we meet, this shall be our little secret."

Valemeros was taken back by that gesture, but to his young mind he did not think anything sinister of it as he gave a playful smile and nodded once.

"Good...I think this will definitely work."

A couple of years had already passed by as Valemeros entered his early teens, his patience for the cryptic messages from Rodyle where getting on his last nerves as he walked through the streets, heading to the location he was told where he could meet Rodyle. A secret cave that used the rock cliffs to remain concealed from curious travellers. Valemeros had made it a weekly habit to visit the location at least once and every time Rodyle seemed to be working on something and Valemeros could tell that the man knew something but was still keeping it from him.

Valemeros had been introduced to the Desians recently and the way that Rodyle worded, a reign of Half-elves where they could be treated equally and fairly seemed like something that Valemeros could support, his young and eager mind finding the glory and glamour in fighting for a cause, and become just like the heroes he had read in the library books.

The metallic doors slide open as Valemeros walked into the laboratory where Rodyle would normally be; however this time the lab seemed to be empty as Valemeros could not help but let his curiosity take hold.

Valemeros did not understand most of what Rodyle had written down, at such a young age not many would. The only thing he could note that there were piles of papers and even discs and each one had been labelled after something, Angelus Project, Mana Cannon, and even something called an Atrum Project. The details were so complicated but the young noble sat himself down and tried his best to read through it either way.

To make it easier, the young noble pretended that it was just like the books he read in the library and it was from that moment on he became even more intrigued as to what Rodyle was up to.

Over the next couple of years, Valemeros would try to sneak peeks into the works of Rodyle, if anything to put more pieces to the puzzle together very slowly.

"I told you two to stay at the manor." Valemeros called out as he stopped in mid-step in the middle of the forest. "I know you're there." Valemeros confronted while half turning towards one of the larger trees. "Come out from there."

The seconds passed before the young versions of Cecil and Monique stepped out from the tree, both of them looking like scolded children as the kept their heads down.

"Get back to the manor." Valemeros frowned. "Now."

"Fine!" Monique suddenly called out in childish rebellion as she grabbed Cecil by the arm and dragged him away. "Not like we care where you go anyways."

Valemeros gave a light smirk, at least the two were slowly warming up to him by now. The two of them were not very trusting and he could not blame them, they were both half-elves that were hunted, beaten, and neglected by the world of man; two young souls who were not given the same advantages that he was growing up. Valemeros was trying to change that by bringing them into the manor; the real challenge came in convincing his father to let them stay. They were both too young to be of any real service so to him and his mother.

That secretly bit Valemeros deep to know that his parents thought that way when they both had a half-elf as a son.

Over the last two years, Valemeros had been accepted into the Desian training grounds where he was being taught how to handle the sword and even manage to cast some spells which Rodyle explained was due to the blessing of having elven blood. This fact of magic also made Valemeros wonder how humans ever got to attain power in the world when humans could not even grasp, or even glance, at the wonderful world of magic.

Rodyle seemed to take a keen interest in the progress of Valemeros as a sword fighter and even more interest in the depth of magic that Valemeros was able to bring to his fingertips. Over the passed years, Rodyle had become a mentor to Valemeros, told him things no one else would, taught him things no text in the library seemed to cover and guided him...like a second father would.

A scream filled the room the moment that Valemeros entered as the half-elf blinked once and looked over to the side, seeing Rodyle rub his forehead with his index and thumb before lowering it to shuffle through the papers as he let out a flustered growl.

"Something wrong, Rodyle?" Valemeros wondered, slightly nervous as he walked over towards the scene of the chaos.

"That unworthy little insect. Lost the key component of my plan, the snivelling half-elf let it slip from his fingers before I could take it from it," Rodyle cussed, but it seemed that he was not addressing Valemeros or answering the question as more venting as he tossed the papers to the side. "Waste...waste...waste..." Rodyle continued to cuss, branding each slip of paper he tossed as a waste.

"Rodyle?" Valemeros blinked as he stepped forward, daring to step in front of the desk that Rodyle was exploding behind.

"Not now, Young Noble." Rodyle seethed between clenched teeth.

Valemeros cleared his throat slight as he adverted his eyes while the frantic half-elf continued to shuffle through the pile of papers on his desk, muttering almost incoherently, the only thing that Valemeros heard were cusses directed at the name of a man he had never heard before along with Angelus and then something about contingencies, replacements, and something about compatible.

Valemeros blinked once as his eyes focused on one of the many discarded folders on the floor, like the others it had fallen victim to falling off the edge of his cluttered desk. Valemeros knelled down and shuffled the paper back into the folder before looking at the title at the top corner, arching an eyebrow as he noticed the title: Atrum Project.

One of the many things that Valemeros was not supposed to do was pick up or read any of the details concerning Rodyle's work, he told him countless times that his projects were of the highest security of the Desians; this time however it was one of those times where you do something for an unexplained reason...it just happens.

"Atrum Project?" Valemeros asked before he realized he had said it out loud instead of inside his head, twitching slightly upon realization before his eyes slowly lifted from the folder to the frantic man at his desk.

"Oh that...all theory, there is more of a chance that...that..." Rodyle paused for a moment and suddenly all that energy he spent cussing at his loses melted into an errie calm as he looked to the folder and then to Valemeros. "Perhaps not all is lost yet." Rodyle almost whispered as he stood up straight and regained his composure.

All the frustration vanished into a wide grin; allowing Valemeros to see the figurative cogs of his master plan resume their turning and the blueprints of his scheeme were revived. Rodyle made his way from behind the desk as he reached over, taking the thick folder from Valemeros, glancing at the folder and then back to Valemeros.

"You finally ready for the truth, young noble?"

Those eyes and that grin...made the saliva dry Valemeros mouth as he made a vain attempt to swallow before giving a determined nod.

"Good."

* * *

Valemeros carefully pocketed the necklace before his haunting flashbacks made him relive his entire tale, more so to do such while Lloyd was right behind him. Before his let his memory relive what Rodyle had exposed to him, what the intent of the Atrum project was, and how it would have all fitted into the plans of the madman genius.

With that, the half-elf noble only breathed out once and continued his walk towards the door, giving Lloyd a dismissing sight of his back as he prepared to disappear into the darkness of the open door before him.

"Valemeros!" Lloyd called out after him as the noble stopped in his place and without even turning his head he spoke out loud.

"After tonight, Tehthe'alla and Sylvarant shall be at war...and there is nothing you can do to st it. So just sit back and enjoy the show, Mr. Irving." Valemeros stated in a chilling tone.

"It doesn't have to be this way! There is always another way."

A scoff filled the air as Valemeros' shoulders rose and fell with his silent laughter..

"Not for me...this is the way that promises a true change, by my own hands." Valemeros stated in the same cold tone.

"Then you leave me no choice, I have to protect the people you would sacrifice for you twisted vision." Lloyd exclaimed with a hint of dismay. He had hoped he could somehow reason with the man but it seemed like he would follow the path of Mithoes and not listen to reason; lost in his extreme vision for his ideal future of half-elves.

Lloyd crossed his arms as his fingers slide around the hilts of his sword and with a twist and a pull his swords were freed from their sheaths with the ring of steel against steel vibrating in the air.

Pressing his foot to the ground, Lloyd pushed his weight forward into a charge as the distance between himself and Valemeros quickly closed. The flash of light against a steel edge filled Lloyd peripheral vision as his brown eyes instantly glanced to the side and his arm raised defensively as his word clashed against the edge of another sword. Lloyd blinked in surprise as he wondered how he missed the fact that someone else was in the room.

The laughter from Valemeros filled the room as the noble disappeared from sight leaving Lloyd to deal with the new threat before the red swordsman. Lloyd turned towards his enemy with a swipe from his sword in hopes that it would cause the man to back off so Lloyd could regain his stance and assess who was before him. A buckler rose up from his enemy as his word hit the round surface and caused his sword to deflect off, causing Lloyd to over extend as his enemy used that to his advantage and pushed his forearm in an offensive manner and before Lloyd could react he felt the impact of steel to the side of his head as his vision blurred an his ears instantly started to ring. The disorientation lowered his guard and all he could hear was the call of "Victory Li" and before Lloyd could make out the rest his swords were knocked to the side with a power slash and next thing he could comprehend was his feet leaving the ground. His hands react off of pure instinct, the sound of metal to metal filling his senses as the world around him spun violently before the dull thud of his body weight hitting the ground interrupted and his world spun for a couple of moments. His leg pressed to the ground to stop him from rolling too far and responded by jumping back to his feet as his head shook free of the cobwebs with his swords raised in a defensive manner; ready for another attack.

"Not too shabby, Lloyd; but I guess I should not be that surprised." The man called out from behind his golden mask.

The new enemy before him wore a gold mask that concealed the top half of his face that allowed his red bangs to hang down from the concealing black hooded cloak the man wore. The open cloak revealed a regal looking black and gold uniform like top with elegant pants that tucked into tall boots, the sword and buckler however stood out from the noble like appearance of the man, like the two items did not belong.

That voice, it was dark and echoed...too unnatural to be the real voice behind the mask. Lloyd had a tingle of suspicion that the powers of shadow were at play here to hide the truth about his adversary.

"Who are you?" Lloyd demanded as his grip on his swords tightened a little as if it would add the power of command to his voice. His eyes did a quick scan of the room to find that Valemeros had already withdrawn. "How do you k ow my name? Why have you sided with Valemeros?" Lloyd added.

Self amused laughter filled the air from the one on the opposite side of the room.

"Why wouldn't I know the name of the one who took away one of the things that meant the most to me? The only one who genuinely cared about me?" The man answered with a question of his own.

Lloyd now knew it was a person he was now speaking of, the only question that remained was who it was he was speaking of. The only thing he knew was that this man felt he lost someone to him and Valemeros, the sneaky snake that he was, manager to use that to gain the man as an ally. What promise did the half-elf make to this man, Lloyd had to wonder as his eyes narrowed, trying to look beyond the mask.

"Well...as fun as 20 questions can be...the faster I get rid of you, the sooner I can have her back." The man casually mused as he tossed his sword in the air, letting it flip a couple times before he did a spin on one foot, turning in time to catch his own sword before pointing it at Lloyd.

'_Sheena.._.' Lloyd could not explain how he knew, but he just had that gut feeling that that was who he was speaking of. Knowing who it was now filled Lloyd with an anger as he could not felt but feel the need to protect her from targeted and harmed from anyone else. She had already endured so much and now this creep in the mask was after her...well no more, Lloyd promised himself that.

The man before him let out a deep breath as he raised his sword into an offensive stance before dashing right at Lloyd. The man had impressive speed, almost blinding as Lloyd watched exactly where his footsteps where landing and the angle of his paces, trying to predict his first move.

The ground underneath Lloyd crumbled, flashbacks of his father hit him as he desperately dove off to the side, rolling back to his feet as Grave spiked out of the floor, Lloyd narrowed his eyes as his head turned to see his foe bounce from one foot to the other as he advanced, adding the element of agility to his advance as it showed Lloyd the man was ready to dodge the next oncoming attack, Lloyd only shook his head once as his right arm shoot out in a flurry of sword thrusts, filling the air with deadly strikes. Lloyd watched as the man actually dodged every single thrust and got up close enough to see the man give Lloyd a wink before a light laughter filled the air and his arm pulled back, the sword giving off a shimmer; a visual warning that sonic thrust was coming right at him.

Lloyd jumped in the air with a spin, not only dodging the attack but allowing Lloyd that small window of opportunity as he swiped with both swords, one sword knocking away the thrust as the other slammed into his foe's shield, knocking the man off balance for a moment as Lloyd landed to his feet, giving him not even a moment to breath as he landed to his feet and focused the fury of the wilds inside him to burst out in raw energy, pounding his shoulder into his chest as the energy burst in the form of a roaring lion head, the energy crackling in the air to simulate the mighty roar as he heard the man grunt and his body left the ground, becoming airborne and to Lloyd's eyes...now prone.

The window was small and Lloyd did not waste as he pushed his body forward, raising a sword into the air before swinging his arm as if his sword suddenly weighed a couple hundred pounds to add momentum as his body left the ground and he spun in the air for the flashy yet devastating tempest that crippled many enemies in the past. His sight melded the world into a flash of colours and streaks with the speed he always spun, the weight against his sword let him knew he caught his enemy as his attack dragged the foe upwards with a series of slashes, this would be a new twist, just for this foe that seemed to at least feign like he knew him. Lloyd stopped the attack when he reached a height he felt was high enough based on his fighters instinct before raising the opposing arm, his purple edged katana given to him by Sheena, crafted by the one who adopted her as he now spun the opposite direction with the other sword, now leading the body downwards with a type of reverse Tempest, the world once more disappearing in a flurry of colours as his mind kept track of how far from the ground he was; stopping his spin just in time to twist his body and land in a kneeling position, the loud thud of his enemy hitting the ground. Even that was not going to be enough of a break that Lloyd would grant him as he raised his swords high and slammed them both to the ground, energy shooting into the ground and now rampaging the ground as it made it's way towards the body laid out in front of him as the Demon Fang's both slammed into the man, causing him to be thrown back as he hit the wall and bounced off a hard oak desk before rolling and crushing the chair below him.

Lloyd breathed out once as his eyes remained narrowed and he slowly raised to his feet before looking to the two reforged katanas, one red and one purple, once shattered by Valemeros and somehow they managed to reforge themselves and now took on a purple and red energy when drawn; becoming more powerful than before.

Just as he was about to sheath his swords, the sign of movement caught the edge of sight as he blinked once and looked back up towards the body as the man rose slowly to a kneeling position, holding a now bleeding shoulder as he grabbed the now tattered cloak and tossed it to the side, a self amused chuckle leaving his lips as he rose to his feet, dressed from head to toe as a noble of Meltokio, long braided hair running down his back.

"Not bad Lloyd, I guess I should expect nothing less though." He mused as he raised his eyes to focus on Lloyd.

The sight that waited him was not what Lloyd could have ever expected as he saw the golden mask, now cracked on top of his left eye the right side of the mask busted to expose more of his face to Lloyd.

Zelos.

"Wh-what?" Lloyd uttered out in surprise as the man blinked before laughing lightly and rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh Lloyd, if only I could capture that surprised look on you face. I guess this served it's purpose...protected this beautiful face from harm." Zelos joked while the echoed disguise of his voice faded while the words left his lips. He raised a hand and ripped the mask off his face, letting it drop to the ground as it shattered into pieces on impact due to how damaged it was. "Oh Lloyd, if you marred my face I do not think I would ever forgive." Zelos poked as he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Not that I really forgive you right now...but hey, we can always start all over again." his words filled the room before his facial expression turned cold and his eyes dropped back to Lloyd with an unexpected anger flaring in his eyes. "Just give me back my Sheena and die so you can be forgotten and I believe I can forgive." Zelos sneered as he tossed his sword into the air, catching it by the hilt before breathing out once, seemingly ignoring the wounds present on his body from the series of strikes. None of them were too fatal but they would bleed out eventually.

"This has to be a trick...some sort of illusion by Shadow...it has to be." Lloyd argued against what he was seeing.

"Nope...sorry, I am the real deal, baby." Zelos confirmed as he tapped his sword on his shoulder now, raising his other arm in a shrugging fashion. "Besides, no illusion can capture the true stunning image that I, Zelos Wilder, have been born with." Zelos gave a dramatic sigh as he looked up. "It can be such a curse at times...so many people want to be this awe inspiring but only I can pull it off, so then I am hated for being me." Zelos smirked at his own comment before looking back to Lloyd once more with narrowed eyes. But she choose you...someone she has not even known for even half as long." Zelos sneered once more, the sneer was something very uncharacteristic of Zelos, and Lloyd could tell just by looking at him that he looked at him with a pure hatred.

"Zelos...don't do this...this will only hurt Sheena in the end." Lloyd attempted to bring own the mans hate as he lowered his swords. "Valemeros is manipulating you...trying to turn you against us for his own goals." Lloyd remarked.

"I don't care anymore, Lloyd...I just don't" Zelos stated in a tone that registered as a desperate laugh as he shook his head. "Desians, Mithoes, Mana Cannon, Anglus Project, Valemeros, half-elves...whatever, I just don't care about that anymore...all I care about is what should have been mine. You took away the only woman who treated me as a person and not fawning over me because I am a noble and chosen...who swoons over my very words, leaving me to question how much she actually understands of me. Sheena was meant to be with me...don't you see? You have interrupted what is destiny...Valemeros has just opened the door to correct it and what can I say? I took the deal...like I ever needed that Cruxis Crystal anyways, the world does not matter to me anymore...this moment, this defining moment right here...classic heroic tale of a man doing everything for love." Zelos stated in a poetic manner as he waved his sword in the air in a dramatic. "I am here to fill the role of the hero who reclaims what was unjustly taken from him...and correct how the story is supposed to be told. Chosen comes into Meltokio, saves the day from destruction, gets the girl...and happily ever after and all that stuff, a true fairy tale come to life...and I Zelos, am now ready to fill that role." Zelos gave a sly smirk as he lowered his head to Lloyd. "Starting with the death of the Vanguard Leader as he tried to assassinate the Meltokio noble."

"Zelos..." Lloyd uttered in a weak tone.

"I am done talking, Lloyd." Zelos laughed as he shook his head while raising his sword. "Destiny...heroics...love...here I come." Zelos added in as he slowly waved his sword over his body, a green glow filling the air as his wounds slowly sealed up from his healing artes, giving a wink as he spun his sword once. "Now...Act 2." He introduced as his cheerful expression instantly changed, twisting in pure hatred as his eyes even seemed to darken a little while he furrowed his brows.

Before Lloyd could continuing trying to persuade Zelos from doing this, because either way it would only end in emotional agony for Sheena, the man was already closing the distance as the ground below Lloyd rumbled and cracked once more and Lloyd knew what was coming his way as he decided this time to leap backwards, hopefully letting the risen spikes to act a barrier between the two so he could try and speak some sense into the emotional Zelos. The ground heaved up in jagged edges before the ceiling flashed a bright flash, causing Lloyd to look towards the source, only to spot a strike of lightning shot down, hitting Lloyd right in the chest as the power pulsed through his body and shot the young back as he crashed to the ground with a grunt of pain. The spikes from Grave shimmered for a moment as they exploded, Zelos leaping through the debris with his sword to the side to show that he had just slashed through the wall of spikes, landing right in front of Lloyd as the man got to his knees and then felt the blade from Zelos tear through the clothing of his top as the blade sank into his chest, tearing the flesh as pain instantly coursed through his body, blood splashing to the ground as Lloyd twisted in the air and crashed in a face plant as gasped out once.

"Oh ho ho, you like that one? I did...full of style." Zelos laughed out suddenly.

Lloyd coughed out as he rose to his feet, turning around, only to be met with the searing feel of fireballs slamming into his chest, shoulder, and leg; causing his knees to buckle as dropped to the ground once more.

"What's the matter, Lloyd? Can't fight all of the sudden?" Zelos mused as he walked around Lloyd until he was behind him. "Alright, as disappointing as this heroic moment is then...I'll make it quick." Zelos shrugged with a dramatic sigh, raising his sword up, readying himself to impale it in the back of his neck.

Zelos brought the sword down but was met with the sound of steel against steel as he blinked, Lloyd had raised both his swords, crossing them in a guard that captured the impaling strike with the blades of the katanas locked together, Zelos jerked his arm only to find that his sword was actually trapped in place as Lloyd pushed himself to his feet.

"Forgive me...both of you." Lloyd uttered in emotional agony as he was apologizing to both Sheena and Zelos, pressing his teeth together in a grunt as he pushed passed the physical pain to get to his feet before looking up at the captured sword, twisting his blades as he spun around, throwing the blade to the side.  
The fact that Zelos refused to let the hilt of the sword go caused the man to be thrown off balance once more as his eyes widened and he raised his buckler, only for Lloyd to hit the bottom of his buckler with the blunt end of his sword , throwing his arm up and exposing his body to Lloyd while the young warrior slashed out with his other sword. Zelos attempted to leap backwards, but the length of the sword made that impossible as the edge cut deep into his gut, causing Zelos to yelp and staggered backwards while a trail of fresh blood splashed onto the ground, covering the new wound with his buckler as he pressed against the cut with his forearm.

Lloyd's movements seemed fluid and even blinding as he stepped forward, slashing outwards in an open and predictable slash that he expected Zelos to block, which the man did just that. Zelos's sword was once more thrown to the side by the force of impact as Lloyd stabbed forward with his other sword, the point of the sword tearing through Zelos's shoulder as blood splashed into the air from the flesh being torn asunder as Zelos grunted once more. The new wound caused Zelos to drop the guard of his buckler as his weight shifted back in a stagger. Lloyd only saw this as an opening as he raised both arms up and then brought them both down in a slash as the blades cut through the front of his chest, causing Zelos to moan in agony before his body just fell backwards, hitting the ground in a spread eagle fashion.  
The cuts were deep but Lloyd breathed out in relief due to the fact that if they were tended to they would not be fatal as he let his shoulders drop in his own disappointment from having to strike down his once close friend. Lloyd placed a hand to his bleeding chest after he sheathed his katanas and slowly knelled down, grabbing Zelos by the hand to whisper down to him.

"Do not move, your wounds are not fatal as long as you do not push yourself...I'll save you, Zelos...I promise." Lloyd whispered as he closed his eyes in resentment. "Forgive me someday..."

His chest suddenly felt tight, like someone reached into his ribcage and squeezed on his lungs; causing Lloyd's mouth to open in a breathless gasp while his eyes fluttered down to see the source of the flash of pain only to see Zelos, his eyes filled with rage, holding the sword that now impaled him in the chest. Zelos grunted as he slowly pushed himself up while shoving the sword deeper into Lloyd's chest, blood spilling from his own wounds as well as blood trickled down the edges of his lips as the man let out a growl of anger.

"Not this way, not by you." Zelos hissed as he started a chain reaction that many warriors used as their last stand; transforming pain to anger and then anger into strength, his breath was already uneasy from the strain on his wound ridden form.

Lloyd pressed his teeth together, to the point where it felt like his teeth would shattered from the pressure. His hand reaching in front of him as he grabbed the sword by the hilt and pushed against the force that Zelos used so it would not sink in deep enough to run him completely through, Lloyd stepping back as Zelos advanced.  
The twist of Zelos wrist is what caused Lloyd to gag in agony before the sword was ripped from his chest, in the split second it took Lloyd to register the situation he could only see that the Zelos he knew no longer existed in the eyes of his once close friend...the only energy he could feel was the type he never wished to exist between them: the energy of an enemy.

A flash of light caught by the edge of Zelos's sword warned Lloyd of the next attack as his arms moved on their own and through the deafening clash of steel, their swords locked as Lloyd called upon his remaining strength to push back waves of torment, both physical and emotional while the feel of warm blood slide down his chest. Hid body was trying to warn him that the depth of the wound would be mortal and bleed out if he did not end soon. Lloyd could only question though if he had the ability to do such a thing as finish off the foe before him.

Blood hit the ground, the sound actually reaching Lloyd's ears; another warning system to tell him just how dire of a situation he was in. Zelos suddenly feinted to the right, causing the force of the dead lock to shift as Lloyd stepped forward, the thud of Zelos shin against his stomach pushed the breath from Lloyd's chest as he staggered forward and actually fell to his knees. The world spun and Lloyd could not tell if it was due to the lose of air or that he was bleeding out that quickly; maybe even the combination of lost blood and air were playing a role and sending Lloyd to an early grave.

"There is no way someone like you is going to take away the one woman I desire!" Zelos's voice rang through the hallways in anger. "The only one I ever felt any real attachment to...any love for."

Zelos raised his sword to his face, closing his eyes as he focused for but a moment before lightning started to surge from the surface of his skin, angelic wings unfolding from his back as he called upon every corner of power he had left to dispatch the one responsible for his sorrow...his loss. The moment his wings spread out, Zelos took his last charge as Lloyd slowly pushed himself to his feet. The lightning flourished to his sword as Zelos pointed the edge of steel towards the ceiling and in one blinding flash followed closely by the deafening thunderclap, the sword of electricity formulated above Lloyd and came crashing down. All Lloyd could do was look upwards at the source before he became engulfed in the blinding flash, his body claimed by the violent crackles of power that told Zelos that whatever was caught in the blast was certainly fried by the raw energy. But the man did not want to take any risks, his continued his charge, ready to run through the man if he managed to survive the blast and finish the encounter once and for all.

The ground absorbed the remaining energy as Zelos continued his advance, however he was not prepared for the sight that emerged from the crackling power. Lloyd had raised both his swords just in time as green energy swirled around his body. Guardian had done it's job at shielding Lloyd from the majority of the blast as Lloyd breathed out once, lowering his swords as the green energy faded in an instant and Lloyd's eyes locked right on the charging Zelos. Lloyd placed his right foot forward and took off with a burst of speed and energy that Zelos did not expect the wounded man to have. His sword raising to parry the oncoming counter-attack proved futile as the sheer force shoved Zelos's sword to the side and before he could reinforce his defence with his buckle her was invited to another deep wound as the sword carved into his chest, shattering two ribs before Lloyd jerked his arm upwards, the sword slashing through and up as the edge cut Zelos right under his sword arm. Zelos felt his body shoved to the side as well as he crashed to the carpeted ground, rolling with the force before he was able to get back to his feet, still stumbling backwards until his lower back hit the edge of the oak desk. His legs threatening to buckle as his body swooped from side to side and Zelos instinctively looked down to assess his wounds, seeing the floor being painted red with the amount of blood spilling from his torso.

He was going to die. He was going to die to Lloyd and lose Sheena forever. His breathing picked up, rage fuelling the last of his strength as his muscles tensed. Zelos's heart quickly due to adrenaline which was also having the adverse effect of making blood pump through his body faster, making his blood loss quickly and ultimately quickening his demise as every second would only push his luck.

"This is the...grand...finale, Lloyd. My dazzling exit, fit for one as handsome as I." Zelos claimed in a tone that was a mix between arrogance and loathing.  
The shimmering wings stiffened on Zelos's back as Lloyd realized exactly what Zelos was doing. The attack would probably bring down the ceiling right on top of both of them as Lloyd did not even know if he had enough time for even one attack, the distance he would have to close in the time it would take Zelos to release all the pent up energy was very unlikely. Tightening his grip on his swords he took the lunge of faith as Zelos's body tensed and he spread his arms out, his wings glowing in bright radiance.

It was a true situation of do or die.

"Shining Bi-" Zelos started to yell outwards.

'_Not going to make it!_' Lloyd's mind screamed out at him, he needed a half second more time. This was going to be the end.

A scream filled the room, one that Lloyd did not know as Sheena's voice, but the scream actually disrupted Zelos as his eyes jerked open as the surge of energy flickered for that brief second as Zelos's head snapped to the source.

"Sel-" Zelos started to whisper not before his voice became lost. His chest heaved in agony as his body slumped over for a moment as the nerves in his already strained body blasted him with waves of pain. The muscles started to spasm, something was wrong.

Zelos looked down to see that Lloyd threw himself forward in a Sonic Thrust stance and his sword had found a home deep into his chest, the sword actually slicing clean through his body and his heart jerked violently as it struggled to pump.

The edge of the sword had cut the side of Zelos's heart and already the vital organ was struggling to function, breathing became impossible as his mouth opened but no words managed to escape. His body jerked violently once more as Lloyd only lowered his head, even in the amount of agony that Zelos was in, he could still feel the emotional shame that Lloyd was going through as the young man slowly pulled the sword out.

Zelos's body became limp as he fell forward, in the direction of which his body slumped, the weight dominating the direction of his crash as his body hit the ground.  
Lloyd shut his eyes tight as the sound of the dull thud invaded his senses, slowly he sheathed his swords in his own disgrace at what he had to do.

"L...Lloyd?" Zelos's voice whispered with diminishing strength.

That was a different voice, it was the voice of the Zelos he knew not the one he was fighting as his eyes shot open as Lloyd looked down at the fallen former comrade and close friend. Lloyd knelled down, as much as his own wounded form begged him not to move much. Turning the man over so his head was now cradled in his forearm, he looked down at the man. Lloyd know, even if he felt shame...he had to look at him, watch him die...acknowledge the sin that he had committed on this day against the red haired chosen.

"I...I'm here." Lloyd uttered somewhat fearfully as Zelos raised his hand slowly, allowing Lloyd to grasp his hand, he knew Zelos only had moments left to live and how quickly his complexion was already becoming pale was all the conformation he needed.

"...I...I don't know...what came over me...I was just...so...angry with you...with...me" Zelos utterly in a deathly whisper.

Lloyd shook his head once as if to try and comfort the man before his eyes caught sight of one thing that sent that tingle of shock through his body. Zelos was wearing a key crest on the back of his hand and a newly planted dark purple exsphere. Very similar to the one that Valemeros wore, Rodyle's dying legacy, the Atrum Project. There was more than one and Valemeros had tricked Zelos into wearing it to feed the inner hatred that Zelos always kept deep inside him. The exsphere fed off that hate and fuelled Zelos...he had becoming an unwilling pawn in Valemeros's game, masterfully manipulated.

The Exsphere that lay in the back of his hand was now cracked, freeing Zelos from all the hate he had felt being multiplied inside. Zelos had returned; sadly that freedom came with a heavy price. The lingering Rodyle project only granted the Chosen his freedom in his moment of death as the pieces of the Exsphere started to crumble and fall to the ground.

"Lloyd...please...I know you..." Zelos tried to utter before his body jerked violently, his heart was bleeding in with every beat and every second he managed to prolong his demise was nothing short of a miracle at this point.

"Zelos...shhh." Lloyd managed to choke out, his own tears flooding the bottom of his vision at seeing his close friend like this.

"No...I...I have to...ask...I know it is not like you to lie, Lloyd." Zelos grunted out as his body tensed for a moment before jerking once more violently. "But please..." Zelos whispered as his dying eyes looked up to Lloyd, tears filling his own eyes as he used the last of his strength to give Lloyd's hand a squeeze. "Don't tell Sheena how I...how I died...and please...look after...Seles for me...will you? ...Bud?" Zelos coughed out a weak laughter before chest heaved out, his seconds were coming to a close.

Lloyd's body trembled as Zelos spoke to him, his dying request as Lloyd could only give a nod to comfort the young man.

"Please...don't...don't tell them...how...I..." Zelos reminded Lloyd, his bodies timer running out before he could complete the sentence as Zelos's head slowly fell backwards and to the side, a trail of tears sliding down the corners as his eyes now stared directly in front of him...but yet saw nothing.

Lloyd lowered his head as his eyes shut, his own tears falling onto the body of the deceased chosen as he tightened his grip on Zelos's unresponsive hand, as if secretly hoping Zelos would return the grip. A false hope based in denial as Lloyd's shoulders slumped and his tears continued to fall.

When his eyes opened once more he carefully placed Zelos on the ground before crossing his hands over his chest in his moment of final rest. Looking down at the man's bank eyes, Lloyd gave him his peace as he reached over, carefully sliding his fingertips over the eyelids of his friend. The last gesture that would confirm what Lloyd's mind was trying to battle.

Zelos...had been slain by his own hands. The blood of many already soaked his hands...never had he wanted the blood of those he cared for to bath his hands.  
Lloyd's muscles tensed for a moment and he did the only thing he could bring himself to do with so much pain and mental anguish pooling into his every fibre of his being. Lloyd extended his arms outwards as his head turned towards the ceiling and he released his agony...in a scream of loss.


End file.
